


Of Magic and Friendship

by sunokasai



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Characters will all make an apprearance in the story, F/F, Love Live! with aspects of Fairy Tail, OC, Relationships are going to be established
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5471948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunokasai/pseuds/sunokasai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world full of magic, 9 girls will struggle with their fate and themselves. Will they be able to overcome their greatest fears, inner demons and enemies, becoming more than just friends in the end? Or will they fail?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - The Gathering

The kingdom of Tokyoshi; a small and peaceful country with 10 Million inhabitants. It is a world full of magic. Magic is bought and sold everyday, being an integral part of people's lives. There are those who use magic as their occupation, these people are referred to as mages. Mages belong to various guilds, and perform jobs on commission. There are an immense number of guilds all across the country; and in a certain city there lies a certain guild. A guild from which incredible mages were once born - and will continue to be born into the future. That guild's name is : Sakura Heaven.

* * *

The port-town Otonokizaka. One of the most important harbors in the south of Tokyoshi. The streets are always busy, but with the upcoming festival right ahead it's become more crowded than usual. The townspeople walk around, decorating every corner available while the visitors enjoy the many specialties and special places the town has to offer. One of those being the headquarter of a certain guild.

Sitting on the roof over viewing the whole town were two people. A woman in her twenties with ash-gray hair and ember eyes. Her gaze was directed onto the sea, following the flight of some of the seagulls. Beside her stood a man, his hair gray from old age, eyes closed and his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"There is going to be an announcement during the festival. To be more precise, it's going to happen at the end of our guilds parade." The old man opened his eyes, but he remained focused on the roof, never looking anywhere else.

The woman tilted her head to the side, staring at him. "I don't think you called me up here just to tell me that, didn't you?"

"No, of course not." Finally lifting his head he started to observe the preparations in town. "You know, being a guild master is hard work. You are responsible for all your members, you are representing the guild and its norms. A guild will be judged by its masters decisions."

He redirected his gaze into the sky. "One wrong turn along the way and a guild is bound to fall with its master. It's not just that. A guild will change like a human, because every new master leading the guild will bring changes; for the better or for the worse. Every step you take has to be backed up thousands of times - by your own judgment, your instincts, your feelings and by the people you are supposed to be protecting."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, the woman looked back down, watching some children playing around. "I don't get what you're trying to tell me."

"Tell me, Hana… What do you think about this guild?"

It was a simple question. But the woman named Hana didn't know how to respond at first. With every minute passing by, with every minute this conversation was held, she was getting more and more confused. But as simple as the question was… the answer was just as simple, too.

"This guild is my family. I was born here. I've been raised here. I don't want to be anywhere else and I would do anything for it."

"Glad to hear that." He chuckled. "It's the same for me. Sure, being a guild master includes all the things I just told you. But to me it is way more than that. If the guild is my family, that makes you all my children and me your father. And as a father it is my holy responsibility to protect you, to keep you save. The pain you're feeling, I'm feeling. Your happiness is my happiness. We share everything with each other."

They just stood there a couple of minutes. Hana knew that this wasn't the end. That there was more to come.

"Second and last question, Hana." Getting her attention back, he now had his eyes closed again. "What is a guild?"

"I just told-"

"No. I asked what a guild is. Not what the guild is to you."

Sighing, Hana thought about it for a second. "A guild is home."

He chuckled again. "Correct, although not as precise as I wished your answer to be." Growing serious, he turned around and looked at the emblem that was on his left palm. The sign that he belonged to the guild. "A guild is… A place where you and your friends can gather along. A place where you can find work to do… And for children with nowhere to return to, a place they can call home… Wouldn't you agree?"

Turning around he looked into the wide watery eyes of Hana who just nodded.

"I'm asking you here and now." He took the few steps until he stood right in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Hana Minami… Will you succeed as the guild master once I retire by the end of the festival?"

Realizing what he just asked, her mind became blank. "What?"

"I will still be a member of the guild of course. Maybe as your personal advisor if you want me to."

"No, that's not what I meant!" She shook of his hands and looked him in the eyes, searching for any sign that this was a joke. But there was none. "Why?"

"Because it is time for the new generation to take over. Time is changing fast and with it the world is changing, too. Unfortunately, humans aren't as fast. Especially if they are as old as I am."

"But…" She understood his reasoning. A lot of those old guild masters were currently accused to hold their guilds back, to not adept to the future. Resulting in those guild getting less work and therefore a lot of mages retired. "But you know I can't. I'm pregnant. I can't lead a guild while I have a child to raise."

"I know that." He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "That's why I leave the choice when you will take over the guild completely to you. Anytime you're ready."

Hana thought about it, her hand resting upon her belly. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before answering. "Once the child is born and we celebrated her first birthday, I will take over the guild." She looked at him, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Thank you for trusting me like this, Mamoru-san."

Mamoru just smiled.

* * *

"Woah, every year that I got to see you again you are growing. I'm sure one day you will become just as pretty as your mother." A group of middle aged men and women hushed around a little girl with ash-gray hair and ember eyes. The little girl surely had her charm and they fell for it every year again.

Hana Minami sat at a table right beside the crowd, observing every movement. After all, it was her daughter that was caught in the middle of these turmoil. But by now she knew that she didn't need to worry, because this scene repeated itself for three years now. She would arrive and all the other masters would forget about the serious business they wanted to talk about the moment they laid eyes on the little girl.

Her daughter, Kotori, was seven years by now. Minami had fulfilled her promise and became her guilds master the day after Kotori's first birthday. It had been hard but with Mamoru as her advisor she had managed to be a mother and a master rather quickly. Right now she was on the yearly gathering of Tokyoshi's guild masters in a secret villa to which she had brought little Kotori since she had been four years old. But this meeting should be a little different than the others. She just didn't know it yet.

"With Minami as her mother I'm sure that Kotori-chan will be a great successor one day." One of the older masters stated.

Kotori pulled at the hem of her skirt and shyly looked down at the floor. The seven year old didn't hate attention, but she didn't like it when she was told such things. She didn't know why, but she felt a strange feeling bubbling inside of her every time someone said that.

"Not just that. Minami is a magical prodigy. I'm sure she can cast some magic at this point, despite her age."

Little Kotori backed away a little. She knew that the people admired her mama for being such a great mage. But why did this mean that she was, too. The seven year old didn't get it. Especially since-

"Why won't you show us something, how about that, Kotori-chan?"

Looking up, Kotori was face to face with at least half a dozen of excited eyes. They were waiting for her to do something, she knew that. But all she did… She started crying and ran away.

Dumbfounded, the other masters jumped back when they heard a chair hitting the floor. They looked around and saw Minami who gave them a death glare before she walked after her daughter.

She found Kotori outside, sitting on one of the benches the villa's garden had to offer. She was still sobbing and crying loudly, not recognizing her mother who had sat beside her.

Minami embraced her daughter tightly, running her hands over her hair and whispering soothing words in the little girl's ear. When she had calmed down, Minami took her daughters face by her cheeks, whipping away the tears with her thumbs and kissing her forehead.

"Don't worry, Kotori. They didn't want be mean. They just don't know."

"But why are people like that? I'm not you." She stilled sobbed a little. Her mother turned her around so that little Kotori leaned against her mother.

"Because people tend to compare one with another. A child tends to be similar to their parents. Like… we both love making clothes, don't we?"

The little girl giggled and nodded.

"Kotori?" Calling her daughter lovingly, she waited until the girl looked up to her. "No matter what happens, no matter what is and no matter what other people will tell you: You would be a great master. But…" She saw the quivering lips of her daughter and smiled warmly. "Don't you ever forget that I love you. You are my little bird and the best that ever happened to me. Don't you worry about that."

After that, Kotori started crying and received her first silver key, studying the art of celestial spirit magic since then.

* * *

When someone of the guild was hurting, so was the whole guild. It was an unwritten rule. Especially if children were involved. That was why no one had been surprised when the little girl had run out of the guild, their heads low. Everyone had been silent.

Minami had walked around town, looking for the little girl. She had found her on the beach, sitting on the shore and crying to her hearts content.

It had hurt her as well. No one liked to deliver bad news, but it had been her responsibility as a guild master. And now it was her responsibility to try to make that girl smile again.

She sat besides her, waiting for the worst to die down until it was just a faint sobbing. It took some time, but eventually, when the sun started to set, everything was silent again. The girl had buried her head in her arms that hugged her knees close to her body.

"Isn't it beautiful? The setting sun I mean. There is nothing more lovely than the yellow and red of the evening's sky being reflected by the sea." With her gaze directed to the horizon, Minami occasionally stole a glance at the girl.

The little girl looked as if she had fallen down a couple of times when running here. Her white summer dress with the flower print was dirty. Her arms showed a couple of faint bruises. Her purple hair, previously tied in low twin tails, was a mess. But the most terrible change in her appearance Minami saw when the girl finally looked up were her eyes. They were bright and full of life before she had run out. Now they were dull.

She silently nodded, looking out of the sea, watching the seagulls.

"This time of the year every evening is like this. I love going out and spending this time of the day at the beach. If you want to, you can come with me tomorrow."

At the mention of the next day, the girl looked at Minami. "Tomorrow?"

"And the days after. You just need to tell me."

The girl's eyes lighted up a little bit. But Minami could tell that she was hesitating. When she had first met her, the girl had been incredibly shy. And she still was, especially now.

"You know, something similar happened to me." At these words, the little girl's eyes widened. "I was just as little as you. But I wasn't alone. And you also won't be."

"But… there is…" The little girl started but was cut of my Minami during a sob.

"No buts. When I was in your situation, the guild caught me. The guild gave me a place I could stay. A wise man once told me that a guild is a place where you and your friends gather, where you find work to do… And a guild is a place children can go to if they have nowhere to stay. A family."

Minami saw that the little girl started to think about what she just said. She waited patiently, knowing that this was a lot to process.

"So I-I can stay?" The little girl whispered.

"Tell me, what's your name?" Minami smiled at the girl.

"No-Nozomi… Toujo."

"Well then, Nozomi-chan. Do you want to stay with our guild?"

Nozomi nodded, tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes again. When she jumped forward, Minami caught her in an embrace and allowed the girl to cry again. As she backed down, Minami hold Nozomi's hand and took something out of her pocket. She laid a deck of tarot cards in her hands.

"I think these will suit you better than me, Nozomi-chan." And Nozomi started crying again.

* * *

Lately a lot of people seemed to rely on the guilds services. And especially on the guild master. That's why Minami had to ask Mamoru again, begging for him to fill all the paperwork while she walked down the streets.

She had been called to a small household. She knew the people living there. They owned a little flower-shop and had been rather popular. But when the last owner died and passed down the business onto his son, the business had slowed down.

When she entered the streets of said business, she stopped dead in her tracks. There were vines growing everywhere, looking for a path where they could grow freely, destroying other houses as well. The source for this mess seemed to be the flower shop.

Approaching the scene, Minami recognized the owner and his wife, staring dumbfounded at what used to be their shop.

"I think you'd called me?"

The couple turned around and looked into the smiling figure that was their guild's master. As if a spell was broken, the man lunged forward. And even though he had gripped her collar, Minami didn't budge.

"Exactly! This stupid brat…. We just adopted her and that's how she thanks us. Destroying our place!"

By the mentioning of a child, Minami's eyes got wider. "And where is this kid."

This time, the woman answered. "Probably still inside as the centre of this mess."

Minami nodded and loosened the grip the man had on her before she walked into what used to be an organized shop. When she looked around she saw different pots scattered around the floor, each used to hold a now trembled flower. The wooden shelfs hung loosely in the wall or had already hit the floor. And all the way back, in a corner, she heard some sobbing.

Covered in mud there sat a little girl, probably the same age as her daughter, maybe a little younger, with hazelnut coloured hair. Beside her were some glasses that may belonged to her. She was hugging her knees and had buried her face in them, crying loudly. But what was the most interesting; the woman had been right when she said that this girl was in the centre. All the vines emitted from under her, growing larger the more space were between them and what seemed to be their creator.

"Hello, there." Minami walked closer, careful not to the scare the already afraid girl even more. The girl stiffened upon hearing someone calling out for her and looked up, her eyes red from all the tears she had shed.

"I-I'm…. s-sorry."

"Don't be. I'm sure you didn't intend to make such a mess." She bowed down to be on the same level as the girl and smiled. "What's your name?"

"Hanayo…"

"Tell me, what happened Hanayo-chan?"

"I-I don't…. k-know."

This girl certainly was afraid. And Minami didn't want this girl to be like that. But there was something else she wasn't able to pinpoint. Something that hold the girl back even more.

"Then… tell me something about yourself. Of course I'm going to tell you about myself, too. I'm Hana Minami, and I'm the guild master of this town's guild, Sakura Heaven. I have a daughter. You seem to be around her age. I'm sure you could get along."

"I doubt that…"

The voice Hanayo spoke with had changed. Upon hearing this change, all of her attention was on the girl beside her. "Why?"

"I'm an orphan… No one wants me. No matter who took me in… brought me back to the orphanage a couple of weeks later. They never treated me well…. Even this family… they forced me…. T-to use my m-magic to…. And I-I got exhausted… and…." Remembering what happened, Hanayo started crying again.

Minami hugged her tightly and allowed her to cry in her embrace. She now knew what had happened. With getting tired, the little girl had lost the control over her magic. Her impressive magic, Minami had to admit. All because the owners of this shop wanted to use her to get back into business, she assumed. The thought alone made her angry.

She took Hanayo up into her arms and started to get out of the shop. "I'm going to take you somewhere save so that you can rest bit. No buts."

Upon getting out of the destroyed shop, she owners walked up to her, their faces enraged seeing the girl who they thought caused this mess. But before they could say anything, Minami turned around and used her free hand to activate her magic. A magic circle appeared above the shop, a ray of light shooting down and destroying the building even further.

"That's for abusing innocent children." Minami turned back around, her face dark. "If you ever pull something like that again I'll make sure that you won't be able to do business in this town ever again."

She retreated back to the guild, Hanayo asleep in her arms.

Later, Minami called the local orphanage and offered to take the girl in, to which they won't comply. With the permission of the orphanage, Minami asked the little girl if she'd want a place to call home.

* * *

As a guild master, Minami wasn't used to quite days. The guild was a lively place. If there wasn't an argument between some members, some of the townspeople would storm into the guild, asking for Sakura Heaven's services.

But today was different. It was in the late afternoon, most of the members were on different missions and the ones being present just returned. In other words: Minami was finally able to sit down and enjoy some tea. Even her daughter was out on a little job, slowly getting used to the life of a mage.

But as soon as she really started to enjoy the day, the peace was interrupted by a loud thud of a door hitting a wall.

A tall and muscular man, probably in his late thirties, stood in the entrance. He was breathing heavily, his gaze checking every single member he met eyes with. He was looking for someone.

"Who's the guild master?" the man demanded and Minami set down her cup with a sigh. So much for a peaceful afternoon.

"That would be me." Turning around at the guilds bar counter where she had been enjoying her tea, she smiled at the man. That's when she recognized the little ginger haired girl behind him. She stood a few feet away from him.

And now that she was able to study his features a little more, Minami thought that something was terribly wrong. While he looked determined he also looked rather sad. As if he was about to do something he knew he would regret. The girl on the other hand looked as if she was on the verge of crying.

He motioned for his daughter to walk past him until she stood right in front of Minami. Her gaze lingered on the floor and she didn't dare to look up.

"This is my daughter, Honoka Kousaka. I ask for you to take her in and teach her to use magic properly. No further questions asked." With that he took one last look at his daughter before he turned around and walked away, leaving his daughter all alone.

Now being alone in a completely unknowns environment, the girl backed away. Tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes until she let loose and cried to her hearts content. When Minami stood up to caught her in an embrace, the girl backed away again.

"Honoka-chan, right? What is it?" Trying to soothe her and get close to her, Minami tried again. But Honoka just took a few steps back again.

"No. It's not safe. Don't… don't get near me." With these words, she retreated back, sitting down in a separate corner of the guild hall.

Minami looked up to Mamoru who'd just stood on the balcony overlooking the entire hall. She shot him a questioning gaze and he nodded, going back into a separate office. She looked back to the girl and decided to leave her be. For now, at least.

The next day, Mamoru joined Minami in the morning, ordering some beer while she drank her coffee again. They had allowed Honoka to stay at the infirmary for the night and right now she was still sleeping.

"So… what did you find out?"

"Getting straight to the point, don't we, Hana?"

"I just want to know what happened so that I can decide on my next steps. That's all."

Giggling, Mamoru took a sip. "Well… there was an incident in the village near Otonokizaka. A whole house crumbled down. It was this girl's home. No one was hurt, but it was a close call."

"You think…?"

Mamoru stood up, heading for the infirmary. "I'm going to take care of it, don't worry." And with a wink, he vanished.

Minami leaned back a bit, getting lost in thought. If what she assumed was true, this could be a tough case.

* * *

With the recent closure of a lot of guilds, smaller as well as some of the bigger ones, request flooded Sakura Heaven on a daily basis. Right now, the guild members were barely able to respond to most of them, having to decline some offers that weren't as important as others.

Minami was glad that she had tasked one of her guilds friends to organize the requests. She was sure that she wouldn't have been able to keep an eye on every change, every fulfilled task, new jobs and such. Her mind was already occupied by worries regarding the closures. Even tough the political leaders tended to make decisions that abandoned every ounce of logic, this one was among the top three most stupid and most dangerous decisions these guys had ever made. And she feared of what might happen in the near future.

"Ah, sorry. But you can't just enter the- Hey! did you hear me?!"

With one of the guilds members shouting upon leaving the guild, Minami turned around to look at what had caused him to yell in the first place. And she was surprised when her eyes met a tiny figure, cloaked in an old and muddy coat with a hood that covered her face. Nothing could be seen, thus alerting every single member present who looked at the figure with suspicion.

Little movements were recognizable when the figure seemingly took a look around the guild, finally setting on Minami who currently sat at the counter.

"I'm looking for a job to do. A well donated one, that is. Mind sharing one?"

Upon hearing the voice every movement in the guild hall stopped. They thought that maybe an old and deep voice was about to speak. By the way this person acted it would have been more than likely to be some old veteran. But instead a high and squeaky voice, though still strong, sounded around the room. Almost as if a child was present. And after a minute of silence, everyone stated to laugh as loud as they probably could. Even Minami wasn't able to keep a smile off of her face.

"Hey! What is it? Don't laugh!" The person yelled, not understanding that her voice was the cause for this turmoil. Because instead of calming down, everything started anew.

"I'm sorry for my friends behaviour." Being able to compose herself, Minami stood up and walked towards the figure. "It's just that… they expected something different from a cloaked figure than a high pitched voice."

By the mentioning of her voice the figure visibly tensed but loosened up right after. "Well… If that's all. Anyways, what about a well donated job? I've heard that quite a lot of guilds vanished. I'm sure you have enough."

The remaining guild masters had been warned that some strangers would try to take advantage of the current situation. Quest hunter was the term they had used. People who would try to make money by doing a guilds job. In most cases just to earn themselves a good amount of money. But something about the person in front of her made Minami curious. She did demand for a well paid job. But her instinct told Minami that there was a different reason forcing the figure to hunt for a request. So Minami might as well try something.

"Indeed, we have some trouble finishing every job in time, let alone accept them all. But unfortunately we won't hand a request out to some stranger. So if you might introduce yourself first?"

Everyone was silent, waiting for the cloak to vanish. And after what seemed to be hours a small hand appeared from under the coat and reaching for the hood. Once the hood was pulled down, the whole guilds eyes widened. In front of their master stood a small child. A girl with pitch black hair and red eyes, looking kind of determined up to Minami.

"My name is Nico Yazawa and I'm looking for a job."

Proud with her guess being on spot, Minami smiled. "What a stubborn girl. Well, Nico… Unfortunately we are still not able to give you a job."

Her gaze still lingering on the girl, Minami saw how Nico's shoulders slumped down. Now she knew that this girl wasn't just looking for a job to do to gain herself some money. There was a different reason in the background she needed to figure out. And there was only one way to do so.

"Only member of this guild, Sakura Heaven, are allowed to accept a request sent do us."

Upon hearing the name of the guild, Nico's head jolted up and her eyes widened. "This guilds name is…. What?!"

Trying to contain her smirk, Minami turned around, starting to walk away. "Either you join or you go. It's your decision."

"Wait! Where do I have to sign?" And with that, everyone started laughing again.

Mamoru, who appeared in front of Minami with his magic, Teleportation, just looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Do me a favour and dig a little bit." Minami whispered to her old instructor.

Mamoru sighed. "You can't solve everyone's problem personally, you know?" He vanished.

"But I can at least try to."

* * *

"Sorry, but we don't need the help from a random stranger. Go and try your luck elsewhere! Even though I doubt someone will take you in."

Shutting the door right in front of her face, the navy haired girl had no chance to respond.

She looked down at herself. With clothes this dirty, full of holes and an overall appearance as if she just picked them up from a junkyard, the girl gritted her teeth. Of course no one would took her in. She was just a stranger and to be honest she wouldn't help her herself. That's why she couldn't even be angry at the dozens of people who declined her offer to help out.

Sighing, she turned around and was greeted by the face of an elderly woman right in front of her. Startled, ne navy haired girl jumped back while the old woman just smiled.

"If you want a job so badly, why don't you join a guild? I show you the way to our guild." The woman took the girl's arm and dragged her along the streets.

Soon after, a large building came in view. It was surrounded by a large wall with iron fences. Those were open, making it possible to look at the huge plaza in front of the building. Various desks and chairs were in front, some of them occupied by various people who were served by a couple of girls with huge smiles.

"You see, even if you may not be a mage you can still work in here. There is always something to do. And they serve an excellent tea." The old women winked and left for a table.

Still standing in place, the girl looked all over the place until she set eyes on the guilds symbol. Eyes widening, her jar dropped.

"You look like you saw a ghost." Being called from the left, the girl turned around.

Looking at her with a small smile sat a women with ash grey hair. In front of her was a cup of tea and some papers. The girl guessed that she was just a customer taking a break.

"Come on over. It's strange for a young girl to stay in front of a guild while being clothed like this."

Flushing a little bit red, the girl slowly walked over, asking. "Who are you?"

Just smiling and motioning for her to sit, the woman kept silent while the girl declined to sit down.

"Are you interested in joining the guild, maybe?" Sitting back, crossing her legs and folding her hands over her knees, the ash haired women raised an eyebrow.

"A guild is the best place to gain yourself a name. Of course I would consider joining one a possibility." Standing straight, the girl looked down on the women.

"A guild is not a place to gain a name, you know? A guild-"

"I am not interested in your explanation, sorry."

Eying the navy haired girl with concern, her smile dropped. The both were silent for a couple of minutes, neither making a move until the woman finally spoke up.

"What's your name, young lady?"

"I am Umi Sonoda. And since I told you my name, may I request yours as well?"

Smiling again, the woman stood up and walked over to Umi. "My name is Hana Minami."

Extending one hand, she smiled again. Minami knew there was something about this girl making it worth welcoming her despite her antic. There were a lot of people in the world looking for fame. And most of them tried their luck by joining a guild. A famous guild, to be more specific. Being the guild master, Minami was used to such intends.

But this girl seemed to be special. There was something in her amber eyes that told Minami that I wasn't just fame she was looking for. No, Minami wasn't sure if the girl truly wanted fame or if she was just using it as an excuse for herself.

She waited for Umi to shake her hand. And when she finally did, Minami rested her other hand above hers.

"Welcome in the family that is a guild." The girl raised an eyebrow. "Welcome to Sakura Heaven."

* * *

Being the guild master to a more or less famous guild was great, Minami had to admit that. After being in charge for a couple of years by now, she truly liked the job. Even though she missed going on missions, being able to enjoy herself on more than one occasion just like drinking tea outside the hall sure was great. But unfortunately there was something making all the benefits seem like nothing: paperwork.

With the magic council going over this and that again, ultimately gaining even more power than they already had, new rules were send out to the guilds. And probably, these could affect her guild as well.

Putting these papers aside, Minami raised an eyebrow when she saw a letter. It was sealed with the emblem of the Nishikino's, one of the ten great families and part of the current council. Opening it, she was greeted by a picture of a young red head, the daughter of the family head, 'Missing' being written underneath.

She was about to pin it on the wall when she heard turmoil outside the gates. Running down towards the entrance, Minami hoped that her members didn't do anything stupid. When she saw her mages surrounding something, she slowed down.

"What happened?"

"Master Minami!" One of the guilds mages ran towards her. "This girl. She just collapsed in front of the guild. She doesn't look that good." He pointed towards the middle.

Indeed, there was a girl with scarlet hair laying on the street. She was thin, way to thin to be healthy. The bruises all over her body looked rather new and Minami figured that she probably had been attacked.

She motioned for two of her mages. "Sugisaki, go and bring Konoe to the guild. It's a medical emergency! Yuuka, Ryo, take her and bring her to the infirmary." Said girls started moving.

Once they brought the girl up and laid her down on a bed, Minami looked at her closely. And once she did, she wondered if this would end well.  
_

"She was lucky. No serious injuries. Well, if we forget the condition she is in, of course. Seems like she hasn't been eating properly for a couple of days, maybe weeks. And she needs a lot of water and- Oh, look who is waking up."

Konoe, the medical advisor of Sakura Heaven stopped her explanation when she saw the red headed girl slowly opening her eyes. Minami walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"My name is Minami, guild master of Sakura Heaven. This is Konoe, our medical adviser." The girl slowly nodded. "Tell us… what happened?"

The girl closed her eyes before she opened her mouth. She took a deep breath before she answered. "I was… on my way to the next city. I… I travel a lot. But I was attacked by… some masked people. They…. They used magic."

"Members of a dark guild." Konoe interrupted. "I can't believe they do nothing against them."

"Yeah. We've already seen better days." Turning her attention back to the girl she took her hand. "What's your name?"

The girl seemed to be in thoughts for a moment. "Maki…. Maki Ichinose."

"Well then, Maki. You can stay as long as you want. Sakura Heaven will make sure that you'll get well in no time. After that it is up to you what you want to do." Minami smiled at her.

"I have only one request." Once Minami nodded, Maki continued. "Can I stay for as long as I want?"

"Sure."

"Now, get your ass out of the infirmary and back to your office." Konoe dragged Minami onto her feet and pushed her out of the room. "This girl needs sleep. And something to eat. Can you order someone to organize that?"

"Don't worry. I'll send someone." With that, Minami walked back I into her office.

Once she closed the door, she looked at the picture of the missing girl. "Ichinose, hm?"

* * *

"Come on, you brat. I'm sure the guild will treat you with what you deserve!"

Hearing a man shouting like this never was a pleasant noise. Especially when the young and reckless mages of her guild caused them to be angry in the first placed. And Minami was far too used to try to calm the townspeople down.

"Yeah. Let's see if this smirk of yours will still be on your face after that."

Now she was getting nervous. Normally it was just one person dragging in someone by his or her ears. This time it seemed to be half the town. Minami could already feel the headache, literally. She hoped her guild members didn't do anything stupid.

Opening the door to her office and walking inside the guild hall, she was greeted by six men, one of them holding the arm of a young girl with orange hair. She struggled against the hold but to no avail.

"Let me go, nya! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"What's this all about?" Coming to a stop before the group, Minami crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The people stopped talking and moving all together. The man holding onto the girl shoved her forward. "Glad to see you, Minami. This girl caused a lot of trouble in Otonoki. And since she seems to be a mage we thought it would be best to bring her here."

"Rin didn't cause trouble, nya." The girl started pouting, not daring to look into the guild masters eyes.

"What did she do?" Minami sighed, touching the bridge of her nose with her left hand.

"She ran around town with incredible speed, causing storage to fall over, ruining my market stands and some other stuff. The market looks as if a tornado went through."

"Ok, maybe Rin did do something, nya…" Looking onto the floor, the girl stopped struggling, accepting her fate.

"I'll take her." Minami nodded towards the group and took the girl by her hand, leading her into her office. She offered her a seat, the girl becoming rather shy. "Do you want some tea?" Minami took out two cups, placing one of them in front of the girl.

Minami took a look at the girl. Judging her appearance, she was traveller. Her cape was tied tight around her neck. She wore a rather practical outfit with a plain shirt and black trousers. Her orange hair was cut short and the bag she had with her seemed rather empty.

"I'm Hana Minami, guild master of Sakura Heaven. But I guess these guys already told you that." When the girl slowly nodded, Minami sat down as well, a smile on her face. "Mind telling me your name?"

"Ahm… Rin Hoshizora." The girl looked up and brightened up a little bit once seeing the smile on Minami's face.

"What are you doing in Otonokizaka, Rin? I mean, except causing the locals a little bit of trouble. But don't mind them, they are used to it anyway." Minami giggled once remembering all the stuff her guild members usually are up to.

"Rin's traveling through the kingdom, Ma'am."

"No need to be that formal, Rin." Minami tried to reassure the girl and break the shy shell. And it seemed like it helped because Rin started to drink the tea, gazing around the room. "Why are you traveling? You're rather young, if I may say so."

Beaming at the question, Rin leaned forward, a huge smile on her face. "Rin's traveling to get stronger. I'll go to one place, stay for a while and then I'm leaving again. Rin already improved a lot since leaving home, nya." By the mentioning of her home, her expression fell a little bit. "It's a tradition in our family…"

Minami noticed the longing look on the girls face, but she decided to not push any further. "What about staying a little? A guild is the best place to gather experience if you're a mage. I would suggest staying a whole year. It would be the fastest way towards your goal."

"You mean it, nya?!" Once she nodded, Rin jumped up, the smile on her face again. "Then Rin's going to stay, nya!"

"Well then." Giggling at the girls antics, Minami leaned back and watched the girl jumping around her office.

* * *

Minami swore she had never seen such a determined look on such a young girls face and she never witnessed someone opening the guilds entrance with such force. Everyone was quite, staring at the newcomer.

The girl had bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She looked around the hall, seemingly searching for someone. Once she laid eyes on Minami, she started moving until she stood right in front of her.

"Are you, by any chance, the guild master?" Even her voice was cold.

Minami didn't know how the girl figured out her position. Maybe she just guessed or her intuition was just great. Either way, there was something about the girl bothering her.

"Yes, I am. Welcome to Sakura Heaven. What can I do for you?"

"May we talk in your office? I'd rather discuss business with you in a more private environment."

It was strange. The girl was rather young, maybe a little older than Minami's own daughter which was 15 at the moment. But she acted as if she was way older.

Minami guided her into her office and offered her a seat. But the girl preferred to stay straight in front of the desk, so Minami decided to do the same, waiting for the girl to start talking.

"I need your help in toppling down a dark guild."

Taken aback by the matter, Minami took a closer look at the girl. She didn't seem like she was joking. Her expression was serious and Minami wondered what happened to her for being like that and what business she had with a dark guild. But even if she wanted to help her, she couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry, but unless the magic council declares a hunt for a dark guild I'm restricted by the law. And it seems like they won't want a hunt anytime soon." Gritting her teeth a little, Minami had to hold back an unnecessary comment towards the magic council.

The girl on the other hand clenched her fist until her knuckles turned white. Without another word she stormed out of the office, dragging a road made out of ice behind her. Every guild member jumped back, letting her leave the guild.

Minami stood in the door into her office, watching her leave. Even though she had a cold demeanour and acted rather harsh, the guild master felt as there was something deep down in her core making her that way. As if dozens of walls protected her to not leaving her vulnerable.

"Remove the ice." Once ordering some of the still stunned guild members Minami started to move. She guessed that this girl wouldn't give up that easily. So the next logic step would be visiting the next town with a guild. And that was Utix.

Making her way towards the bridge that lead into the forest towards Utix, Minami thought if Sakura Heaven could offer that girl something in order to make her stay. And once she reached the bridge, she waited.

Once she walked past her without even looking at her, Minami, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest and her eyes closed, spoke up. "It's no use. Every guild will decline since it is law. No one wants to bring the wrath of the council upon them."

The girl stopped dead in her tracks, her shoulder slumping down as if she knew that already. Minami wondered how many guilds the girl had already asked and how many times she had been rejected. Equally interesting was what made her so stubborn in the first place.

"I don't know what fuels the drive you have or why you are so determined to take down a dark guild… but I know that with the way you are currently you stand no chance." The girl remained silent. "But I know that if it is revenge you are looking for-"

"It's not. Not just that at least." Interrupting Minami, the girl turned around and faced her. "It has to do with family."

"Family?" Raising an eyebrow, Minami waited for the girl to continue, but she didn't. "Well, either way, whatever the reason is, my offer will still stay the same." Walking towards the girl she continued. "What's your name?"

Raising an eyebrow the blonde answered. "Eli Ayase."

"Well then, Eli. What about joining our guild. We could use a hand here and there. And maybe you'll grew stronger." Her last words were a faint whisper. "And just maybe, we'll become your home."

* * *

"These girls are certainly something." Mamoru sat beside Minami and watched nine particular girls interacting with each other… or not.

"They're special in some way. I'm sure they'll grow, being magnificent mages to our guild and friends."

"Friends? Them?" The previous guild master motioned in front of him.

Indeed, the nine girls could be labelled everything but not friends. They even had a hard time being part of the guild. While Kotori was adored by every member, she was rather shy and tried to avoid people. Nozomi was sitting either in a corner of the guild or in the library reading some books, but didn't interact with anyone else except she was teasing them a little. Hanayo was even shyer than Kotori and spent most of her time tending the guilds garden. Honoka was a problem herself. While she smiled and laughed a lot with the other members, she retreated back into some sort of shell once someone tried to get near her, avoiding direct physical contact. Maki stayed for herself most of the time and no one dared to approach her because of her uninterested behaviour. These five were rather calm. Nico and Umi would constantly fight with each other because they couldn't stand each other's opinions what was more important, money or a name. Apart from that both tended to act rather harsh towards the other girls whenever they did something they thought was wrong. Rin still caused a lot of trouble in town, but apart from that she smiled a lot, even if this smile wasn't genuine. Eli was a block made of ice. No one liked her and she liked no one. Especially Nozomi had to deal with her a lot since she used to read in the library Eli took charge of. And the blonde always wanted to be alone, but she somehow couldn't make Nozomi leave which angered her.

"If they are ever going to be friends and care for each other, I swear I am going to pay you the swimming pool you always wanted in the backyard."

"Well then, Mamoru… Wanna bet?" Smirking, Minami extended one hand towards her old mentor.

"You bet I want."


	2. [Arc 1 - The Union] Lost in Differences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year has past since the last of them had joined Sakura Heaven. Now it's time for them to show their worth. But will they be able to work together? Or will their differences cause them to clash at every given minute?

“You can’t be serious!” Slamming his fists onto his former table, Mamoru stared daggers at his successor. The first time in years he truly doubted that what Minami suggested could be benefitting in whatever way. To him, it was certain that something would go horribly wrong.

Meanwhile, Minami was casually sitting in her chair. She had known from the start that her former mentor would be against her idea. That was why she had thought of a rather simple solution beforehand. “I am serious, because you will accompany them- as their guide.”

Mouth agape, Mamoru fell back into his chair. Staring at the woman in pure disbelief. “Me? Guiding them? Do you want me to get a heart attack?”

“Either you go with them…” Minami smirked in victory when she saw Mamoru gritting his teeth. “Or you leave them by themselves.”

Defeated, the old master sighed. “Why do you never play fair?”

* * *

When someone had told her that she would stay with this guild for almost a year, Eli would have made sure to return this over productive mind back to the reality by cooling it down rapidly. But now, her she was, sitting in an admittedly comfy little library that belonged to said guild.

After she had joined Sakura Heaven reluctantly, Eli had declared to take care of the library. It had been in such a bad shape, but since it was the only place within the guild that almost no one was interested in, it had been and still was the perfect place for the blonde. After all, she had made clear from the very beginning that she wasn’t interested in bonding with others.

And apart from some unfortunate circumstances she had to face, she was left all by herself. If she would manage to ignore the raven haired nuisance beside her for a couple more minutes, that is.

“I swear to god, Ayase. I am going to wreck havoc in here in order to find what I am looking for if that’s what you want, you stupid dumbass.”

Finally redirecting her gaze from the book she was currently reading to the other person, Eli narrowed her eyes. “Say that again, Yazawa.”

“What? Dumbass?”

“No.” Using the high difference between the both of them, Eli towered over Nico. “Try to wreck anything in here and you will have to try to get out of a block of ice for the next couple of days.”

Nico smirked triumphantly. “Are we now willing to help the best mage of this guild, Miss Ice Queen?”

“First: Don’t call me that. I am not interested in this stupid nicknames.” Eli sat down again, getting herself comfortable by crossing her arms above her chest. “Second: If you really are the best mage of this guild you wouldn’t need my help. Or the help of the books, that is.” Seeing how Nico’s smug face slowly changed into a frown, Eli decided to take it a step further. “Third: You are not the strongest mage of this guild. Minami-san and Mamoru-san are more capable than you are. In fact, I am more capable than you are. And you know that. Our last little fight was last week, wasn’t it?”

“Are you helping me now?” Nico looked around the library in an attempt to avoid the matter when her gaze landed on something, or rather someone, in the probably darkest corner of the whole room. “Still didn’t get her out of here?”

Eli turned around to look at the person Nico had mentioned. A purple haired girl, probably the same age as her, sat there reading a book. “Tojo? No chance.” She had tried, various times. Even though Eli wasn’t the type to give up, she had no more ideas up her sleeve. “Cooling the room down to resemble an arctic climate, removing the armchair she is sitting in, dimming the lights so that no one with normal eyes should be able to read… And she’s still there. At least she is quite and won’t get on my nerves.” She send Nico a pointed look.

“Just help me and I won’t bother you anymore. It’s not like I enjoy being here.”

“Fine. The sooner you are out of here, the better. What do you need?”

“What do you have on Vulcans?”

A snort made its way through the library as Eli tried hard not to laugh. “Vulcans? Seriously? The ‘best mage’ needs help with Vulcans?”

“Assuming you laughing at me means you know these things?” Nico was getting annoyed. She knew that Eli Ayase could be arrogant. The both of them already had various heated arguments, including that blue haired girl the black haired mage vaguely remembered being called Umi Sonoda. While she and Umi argued about their different opinions, Eli clearly hated their reasons for becoming a mage and would make sure to point that out whenever possible.

“I do.” The blonde just looked down, an amused smirk on her way to beautiful face.

“You are enjoying this, right?”

“You have no idea. I bet this job has a lot of money as a reward, otherwise you wouldn’t have accepted it. Pathetic, if you ask me-”

  
“Yeah, we know. You are something better than us, bla bla bla. I’ll look myself.” From all the things Nico wanted to do right now, erasing that smug grin from Eli Ayase’s face had the top position. Unfortunately, Minami had forbid the usage of magic in the guild after their last incident. Apparently, new tables and chairs were rather expensive.

“Vulcans are ape like creatures, living either in the forest or in the northern mountains.”

Upon hearing the voice, Nico turned around and looked at Eli. The blonde visibly gritted her teeth and muttered something under her breath before she returned to her own work. That meant only one other person could have answered her. She turned around to face the purple haired girl. Her green eyes were looking at her and she smiled a little.

“Why do you know something about Vulcans, Tojo?”

“Even though I can’t blame you, Elichi is right. Vulcans and their abilities are common knowledge.” She lowered her gaze. “And I’ve encountered them before, when I was little.”

If it weren’t for the silence in the library, Nico probably wouldn’t have understand the last part. It sounded like a sad whisper, but she decided not to pursue it any further.

“Vulcans are able to cast a magic that is called 'Take Over’. This allows its user to literally take over the abilities of another being and part of his appearance. Vulcans use it to take over a human’s entire appearance to survive.”

“What?!” Nico screamed in disbelief which earned her a glare by a certain blonde.

The image of an ape using some sort of magic to resemble her appearance terrified her. No other creature should be allowed to look as cute as she did. With her mind already occupied by what she would take along, Nico went back to the guild hall.

The purple haired girl just chuckled when Nico made her way out of the library in a hurry before her eyes met those of Eli.

“Why did you tell her that, Tojo?”

“Because I am not as mean as you are, Elichi. And how many times did I already tell you to call me Nozomi?”

Eli just raised her eyebrows. She didn’t get that girl at all. Everyone had told her that she was a loner but quite the tease at times. To Eli, she was just annoying. “I told you not to call me by that nickname.” The blonde turned around, considering if she should use her magic to scare the girl. A little ice shard would do, but Eli opted against it and just left for her table. “I really don’t get what makes you think that you and I would get along, Tojo. But I already told you that dozens of times.”

Watching the ice mage walking off, Nozomi lowered her gaze to the floor. The book in her hand was forgotten when memories of happier times flashed through her mind. Because they were alike, would be the purple haired girls answer for just as many times.

“Hey, you!” An orange haired girl appeared at the top of the stairs. Nozomi remembered her being called Rin Hoshizora. “The guild master wants us to gather in the hall. You should hurry, everyone else is already there, nya!”

“And you should stop screaming. This is a library, for God’s sake.” Appearing from behind a bookshelf, Eli stared daggers at the younger girl.

Rin just shrugged and turned around. “Don’t care. Rin was just send to tell you, nya.”

Gesturing for Nozomi to get up first, the blonde tried to be as subtle as possible as she pretended to be busy organizing some more books. But the purple haired girl knew that the other girl just wanted to leave after her, so that she could be sure she didn’t touch anything she wasn’t supposed to.

The moment she entered the guild hall, Nozomi saw that all the members who weren’t out on a mission had gathered, just like Rin had told them. An exception were master Minami and Mamoru who she couldn’t see in the little crowed. Nozomi guessed that they were still in the master’s office.

When she walked into a corner of the room, Nozomi heard the other members talking. Some of them seemed to be excited, not knowing why they were asked to come together. On the other hand, a lot of mages complained for whatever reason. Standing in the background, Nico was part of the latter faction, muttering something under her breath. She was impatient and the bag on her back told Nozomi that she had been on her way to her mission.

Letting her gaze travel over the guild, she spotted Eli who still stood close to the stairs down to the library. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed. Whatever the announcement would be, the blonde mage wouldn’t be interested, Nozomi thought.

Before she was able to observe further, the door to the master’s office opened.

Mamoru stepped aside so that Minami could walk into the guild hall first. With the office being located one floor above the hall, the both of them leaned onto the railing of the little balcony that had been build.

The facial expression of the both of them couldn’t been any more different. While Mamoru looked rather distressed and worried, Minami started smiling when she had spotted nine specific mages among her guild.

“I still think that this is a bad idea.” Mamoru muttered once he saw the smile on his successors face.

“Have a little faith in them. Everything will be fine. And in addition…” Looking down at her former teacher, Minami couldn’t stop the smile growing into an amused smirk. “You are with them. So it should be fine. And since my daughter is going to go, too, you’ll be exceptional careful.”

“Great. Adding more pressure to this old man’s bones. How generous.” This time, even Mamoru couldn’t help but smirk.

Giggling once before she finally turned around to face the rest of the guild again, Minami stood straight and cleared her throat. After all, it didn’t happen every day that the master assigned mages to a mission personally.

“We’ve been called for help. A little town not far from here has to deal with a misguided mage who is terrorizing said town. Sadly, there is no guild and no mage among them who’s strong enough to beat him. Records say that his magic allows him to create golems out of any material at hand, the highest number he’d created so far being three.”

Minami eyed her mages. They all listened, but she could tell that some of them were getting impatient and annoyed with such an announcement. After all, they had expected something more important.

“Normally, such a request would be available at the request board so that all of you would have the chance to accept it. But this time…” She just couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her face, seeing how disinterested a couple of her targets were. “This time I assigned some of you personally to the mission. Please do the guild justice… Kotori Minami!”

Starting off with her own daughter who looked at her in sheer disbelief, Minami shared a fond, encouraging look with the young mage, before she continued to call out the other names.

“Umi Sonoda! Honoka Kousaka! Maki Ichinose! Rin Hoshizora! Hanayo Kouzumi! Nico Yazawa! Nozomi Tojo! Eli Ayase!“

One head after the other snapped up, gazing at her as if she had just announced the end of the world. Minami knew that for some of the girls, under normal circumstances, to go on a mission together was impossible.

“You can’t do that! I have accepted a mission and was just about to depart!” Nico was the first one to protest. Her voice rang through the hall without any disturbance since it was deadly silent.

“I can, and I will. I’ve already reassigned your mission.”

“To bad, because I won’t go.” Walking a few steps into the hall and glaring at her master with eyes made out of the ice she was moulding, Eli emitted an aura that caused some of the other mages to stumble back.

“Even though I hate to agree with Ayase…” A navy haied girl, Umi, was the next one to speak. “I won’t go either.”

She had expected those three to protest. They were the other reason beside Kotori that Minami wanted Mamoru to go with them. He would be able to keep them in check and since they respected him, they wouldn’t try to avoid the mission. If she wanted this to end the way she wanted, she would need to plan this perfectly. She had been aware of that. Naturally, her smile grew even bigger.

“You will, because Mamoru is going to accompany you. If you try to avoid this mission by running away or whatever… he has the permission to punish you however he sees fit.”

With the girl’s eyes widening and the silent acceptance Mamoru just sighed and smiled. “You really don’t play fair, Hana.”

* * *

Never in his entire life had a travel been so exhausting. It wasn’t for the path ahead of them. His old bones were still able to fight, after all. But the companionship, if one could call it that, was terrible, Mamoru thought.

That the nine girls walking ahead of him weren’t best friends or at least comrades was obvious. Some of them had started to argue the moment they had left Otonokizaka, lecturing the shy girls about this and that while others tried their best to not get involved. Attempts to peacefully calm everyone down failed terribly.

Saying that Mamoru was tired was an understatement.

“I’ve already told you a thousand of times: Leave it to me. The great Nico Yazawa will handle this on her own and surely the townspeople will reward me with a good amount of money. You’ll just get in the way.”

Such an argument wasn’t anything new. Nico and Umi would constantly clash with each other, most if the times Nico being the one to start the whole ordeal. Such like now when she had declared that she alone would be enough to defeat this mage terrorizing the town. That had earned her a mocking laugh by Umi and Eli, the latter not even trying to hide her disgust towards the argument.

“You’re always thinking about money. Yet I didn’t see you wearing fancy clothes or anything like that. Not that it would matter. When you are on a mission, all you have to think of is your reputation. You win, you will be acknowledged.” Umi said, not even bothering looking at Nico.

The raven haired girl gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. “You can use money in more ways than one, you know?”

“Oh, mind telling what you are using it for? Maybe your determination to gain so much of it becomes less stupid.” Stopping dead in her tracks, Umi finally turned to Nico and looked down on her, arms crossed over her chest. She was challenging the other mage, and Nico knew it. Yet, she didn’t intend to back down.

“You little…” When Nico was about to make this fight more physical, she was stopped by a blonde stepping between her and the navy haired girl.

Eli emitted a wave of ice cold air that caused Umi and Nico to take a step back. She then looked at the both of them, still with the disgust clearly visible on her face. “You two are pathetic, you know? Fighting for money and fame like nothing else matters.”

Instead of getting the situation under control, Eli’s interruption had just caused another one to get into the mood of fighting. That much was visible by how much icy fog surrounded the blonde.

Neither Umi, nor Nico backed down. When the three of them each formed a magic circle, Rin jumped forwards and right into the middle of the three trouble makers. “Come on, nya!”

Eying the ginger with a confused and cold glare, Eli, Umi and Nico cancelled their magic, much to Rin’s relief. “We know that you can’t stand each other-“, A snort by Nico and a muttered ‘Understatement of the year.’ interrupted her. “Buuuuuuuut, we are on a mission, together. So why don’t we save our energy for that guy and his golems, nya?”

Everyone was silent. Kotori and Hanayo had watched the scene with fear visible in their features while Honoka and Nozomi just looked concerned. Maki, on the other hand, was as disinterested as always.

Watching the girls from afar, Mamoru still wondered how Minami could think of them becoming friends. Each of them were miles apart from the other, numerous barriers stopping anyone to approach them even a bit. Even if what Rin did just now seemed like a friendly act, he knew that it was just to prevent the group from falling apart even more. Something that would have reduced their chance of successfully ending the mission a lot. If there was a chance for them being successful at all.

When Mamoru looked around the girls, he doubted that this would go as smooth as Minami wanted to.

“Maybe… we should go back?” Kotori was the first one to voice what had been haunting Mamoru’s mind all day long. “What could we possibly do?”

“She…. She is, uhm… right.” To say that Hanayo was scared would have been an understatement. Her voice was shaking and she stepped from one foot to the other. She had been walking in the back the whole time with her gaze directed to the floor.

Umi, Nico and Eli turned around and looked at them with raised eyebrows. Even though they fought all day long, there was one thing they all agreed to.

“Are you serious?!” The raven haired mage was the first of them to snap. “You want to go back? Fine, go! Like the pitiful variant of mages you are!”

Visibly flinching at the insult, Kotori and Hanayo took a step back. Tears were forming in the corners of their eyes. Honoka and Rin watched the whole scene with a concerned look until Honoka stepped forward.

“Guys, don’t be so harsh-“

“Don’t interrupt, Kousaka.” This time, Umi spoke up. She looked at Honoka with some sort of demonic eyes and now the ginger understood why the navy haired girl had been dubbed ‘Blue Demon’. “As much as I dislike to agree with Yazawa, but if you are not suited for this kind of mission, maybe you should reconsider being part of a guild?”

“Maybe you should reconsider being a member of a guild, too? We are supposed to work together and not fight each other.” Honoka stepped between the three aggressive mages and the other girls.

It was silent for a few seconds until someone laughed. Eli had turned around to look at Honoka with an amused and arrogant smile on her face. “We’re not fighting. If we were, you’d all be glued to the ground with some nice new shoes made out of ice. This is just… a discussion.”

“Yeah, as if you could take us all on, blondie.” Nico snarled back.

Getting into her fighting stance, Eli closed her right fist and laid it in top of her left palm, her arms being stretched forward. “This is not the guild, Yazawa. Shall I cool this head of yours off a little?”

Watching Eli, Umi and Nico getting back into their fight, Honoka watched helplessly as Nozomi comforted Kotori and Hanayo. The latter had started to cry a long time ago. Kotori just stood at her spot, gaze lingering on her feet and her body language anything but open. Maki and Rin just stood at the side.

She wanted to do something, but she couldn’t. Honoka knew that she might have the ability to stop them from fighting, but who would stop her? She bit her lip until a small trail of blood found its way to her chin. Clenching her fists tightly, she wished that everything would just stop.

“Cease your stupid fight at once, you fools!” The ground underneath them started to rumble as pillars made out of earth separated Umi, Nico and Eli, stopping them at different heights.

The other six members who still stood on solid ground looked up in disbelief.

“What the…?” Honoka murmured. She heard footsteps getting closer and turned around.

Mamoru walked around her, his hands behind his back. His expression was more terrifying than Umi’s, as if he could end the world with just a snap of his finger.

“That’s the former master of Sakura Heaven for you.” Even Maki, who had stood at the side the whole time, looked up in awe.

“Who do you think you are?!” Mamoru’s voice was deeper and louder than usual and he emitted a dangerous aura that made Honoka stepping a couple of steps back. Right now, the man in front of her was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.

“We are not on a foolish journey to enjoy ourselves! This is an important mission we were tasked to end successfully. You are mages of Sakura Heaven and I will not allow you to throw away everything that the guild, my ancestors and I, as well as master Minami, tried to build up and protect for decades! Did I make myself clear?!”

The three girls on the pillars looked at each other before looking down to the ground again, gulping at the height before shouting down their agreement. Mamoru lowered the pillars, but a little faster than necessary so that Umi, Nico and Eli landed rather unpleasant.

“If I am going to hear someone complaining or fighting again, I am going to send him up there where the air is dangerously thin. Got it?”

When everyone nodded, Mamoru looked at the three hotheads and gestured in front of him. A dark glare was enough to make the three girls hurry their steps. The rest of the group walked behind them. After all, those weren’t the ones he needed to be observe almost every second.

“Uhm… Minami-san?” Honoka hopped in front of the grey haired girl to get her attention. A shy smile was plastered on her face. It wasn’t like she talked to their guild masters daughter every day, so Honoka had no idea how to behave around her.

Kotori returned the question with a kind, yet reluctant smile of her own. “Call me Kotori, please. Minami-san is my mother and the guild master, something I am not.”

The first genuine smile had turned into a forced one that didn’t reach the other girls eyes. Not sure if she was the reason for this sudden change in expression, Honoka gulped. The last thing she wanted to do was to screw things up with their guild masters’ daughter. “Kotori-chan it is, got it. Uhm…” She knew what she wanted to ask, yet she didn’t know how to phrase it politely. “Has Mamoru-san always been that… convincible?”

Kotori chuckled. “You mean terrifying?” Honoka almost panicked and gestured for her to be quit, which caused Kotori to burst out in laughter. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t mind. He’s always been that way. My mom’s generation was a rather wild bunch, as he likes to describe it, when they were our age. So he invented a method to keep them in check. It still works, as you can see.”

Looking ahead Honoka saw the other three girls walking beside each other without a single complaint. Sure, they were rather stiff. But that was something the ginger was able to understand after what had just happened.

“But…” Getting the other girls attention back, Kotori continued. “But he is a really nice person. He is my grandpa, sort of. Even if we are not related by blood.”

“Don’t worry? Easy for you to say then, if he’s like a grandfather to you.”

Kotori chuckled again. “I mean it. You can ask Kouzumi-san if you don’t believe me.”

Turning around to look at the shy girl, they found her with a surprised expression. Hanayo hadn’t thought to be added to this conversation, so she fumbled with the hem of her shirt. “Uhm… Mamoru-san has always been… very nice to me.”

“See, Kousaka-san?” Kotori beamed.

“It’s Honoka.” The grey haired mage blinked once, looking straight into the blue eyes of an excited ginger. “If I can call you Kotori, you can call me Honoka. That’s just fair, isn’t it? We may haven’t spent that much time together, but when we are finally able to get to know each other…. Uhm…” That was the point when she had lost her train of thoughts. But it didn’t matter to her, as Honoka smiled back brightly. Gladly, a similar smile grazed Kotori’s face.

“Uhm… if you don’t mind… it is Hanayo.” A small voice called from behind them.

Kotori and Honoka smiled at each other before they stopped for a second to join Hanayo, one on each of her sides. “Sure, Hanayo-chan!”

From the far back of the group, Nozomi absentmindedly played with a deck of tarot cards. She had drawn several cards now, but turning them around to see what the spirits had to tell, the same symbol always greeted her: upright death.

“The questions that remains and won’t be answered… is it a good or a bad change?” The purple head muttered as she stuffed the cards back into her pocket.

* * *

“A small town?!” Nico almost shouted when they stood in front of a rather big gate. At least it was big from a certain raven haired mage’s perspective. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

Frowning, Eli looked down at the other mage who stood left of her. “Could you please stop shouting? This is embarrassing.”

“And like a big announcement that we’ve arrived.” Umi added.

“That’s not a problem.” Walking up behind them, Mamoru let his bag drop to the floor with a lout thud. “This mage will show himself when he wants to. Up until then we should rest. I know a small but nice little tavern.”

All in all it had been a little more than a day they had been traveling. They still could have been a little faster without all those interruptions along the way. But after that last incident that Mamoru had put an end to no one had dared to say anything again. Instead, the old master had noticed some of the girls getting closer. Maybe Minami was right after all.

"Uhm, Mamoru-san?” Rin snapped the mage back into reality after he had been lost in his own thoughts. “You need to lead the way. We don’t know where to go, nya.”

Blinking once, twice, Mamoru took his back again and gestured for the younger mages to follow him. Now that they had arrived in their destination all he could do was thinking about the task laying ahead of them. He was worried. Some of his protégés were strong individually. But what if teamwork was inevitable? Were they able to put their differences aside and work alongside a common goal? Mamoru doubted that. In addition some of the girls didn’t seem to be fighters. What would they do?

Form that point of view it really looked like an incredible stupid idea to form a team out of these nine girls.

His thoughts were put to a stop when a huge amount of people blocked the way on front of him. The others stopped as well. Wondering what was going up ahead, Mamoru lifted the ground they were standing on. That way they would be able to see the reason for this gathering.

“Who’s that?” Eli pointed at a group of five people sitting beside a small fountain on what seemed to be the center of a market. An equal amount of horses were tethered not that far away. They didn’t seem to care that so many people watched them.

“You don’t know who they are, girl?” An unfamiliar voice from beneath called up to them, obviously one of the townspeople. He seemed rather angry. “Those belong to the Nishikinos. Maybe they are not Nishikinos by blood, but they belong to their household, or whatever it is called. And they are damn strong. But those bastards won’t help us with this mage. They just sit there, eat what little we were able to give them and soon they will be gone again.”

He turned around again and left some of the girls even more confused. “Who are the Nishikinos?” Honoka was the first one to ask.

“You don’t know?” Nico looked back shocked while Umi massaged the bridge of her nose, muttering an “Unbelievable.”  

Honoka, Eli and Rin shook their heads.

“The Nishikinos are one of ten families that basically rule our kingdom.” Nozomi explained rather simple.

Rin frowned. “But we are a kingdom, so doesn’t that mean that a king rules, nya?”

Laughing bitterly, the purple haired girl explained further. “He is just representative. The rulers are those ten families. There are two councils in Tokyoshi, a civil one and a magical one. The Civil Council, dealing with common stuff for everyone, consists of ten members in total, five of them being from the ten families and the other five merchants and craftsmen elected by the people. The Magic Council, who’s in charge for everything regarding the magic world such as guilds, has eight members. Each of them a member of one of the ten families.”

“I still don’t see the problem.” Honoka interrupted.

“It’s rather simple, actually.” This time Umi spoke, her eyes still looking ahead. “They are called the ten families because they each have so much power and wealth at hand that basically no one can oppose them. With the whole Magic Council consisting of them everything in the magic world is as they wish. They decide everything, even if we are allowed to fight dark guilds. Which we are not, by the way.”

“The Civil Council may seem more equal, but that is not the case.” Nozomi took over again. “With half of it being ten family members and the rest being rather powerless and normal people, it is easy for the first five to turn decisions in their favor. Corruption is the key word.”

Realization dawned upon them and Honoka and Rin looked back at the five strangers in awe.

“That system seems pretty unfair, if you ask me.” Eli clenched her fist.

“It is.” Mamoru lowered the platform so they wouldn’t be able to see them anymore. “But it didn’t start like that. At first it was pretty fair. But the ancestors of those families saw a chance in becoming more powerful and slowly turned the system in something that would favor them, finally becoming what you see today.” He turned around and smiled at them. “Well, how about some rest?”

“Wait!” Hanayo suddenly said. She was looking around frantically, searching for something or rather someone who should be with them. “Where is Ichinose-san?”

* * *

Maki tried to get her heart rate and breathing back in control as she stood in an dark alley not to far away from everyone else. She had expected them to show up, but not that early. It had just been a year. If they used more forces than she had anticipated they would arrive at the guild way sooner than she had predicted.

Leaning her head back and looking up at some ceiling, Maki thought about her options. She could leave the guild and run again. But unfortunately that hadn’t worked that good the first time. The second option was to stay with Sakura Heaven, hoping that the guild would protect her. Right now the second one seemed to be the better idea.

“Ichinose-san?”

Maki jumped when someone called for her “name”. Turning around, she saw Hanayo looking at her with a worried gaze. “What do you want, Kouzumi?” Despite her inner turmoil she still managed to sound as harsh and disinterested as always. A result of a decade of lying.

Her answer made Hanayo flinch. The shy girl backed away a little, not daring to look at Maki. “We… we were just wondering where you… went.”

Pushing herself of off the wall, Maki walked past Hanayo with an emotionless face. “None of your buisness.” She couldn’t and would never tell anyone.

Walking out in the light again she saw everyone else already gathered again. Some of them looked rather annoyed, a result of her disappearance, Maki thought. Hanayo was walking behind her, but with a noticeable amount of space between them.

“Now that we are complete again, let’s go to the tavern. It is not that far from our right.” Mamoru began to lead the way.

Fortunately for Maki the tavern was in another direction than the five Nishikinos were. She wouldn’t have to risk to be found.

It took them about ten minutes to reach their destination. While Mamoru walked in with a huge smile the girls stopped dead in their tracks once they saw the building they were about to enter. It was an old house, the single nail left barely able to keep the tavern’s sign in its place. The windows sure had seen better days, but now they were just dirty and broken.

All in all, this was no place any female being in this world would want to stay in.

“Are you coming in? There is someone I want you to meet.” With only his head visible, Mamoru called from within the tavern, the rest of his body covered by the door. “What?”

The girls simultaneously moved their fingers up to point at the building, eyes fixated on the old master.

“What about it?” His eyes moved up the wall beside him and then back to the group with raised eyebrows. “Did you expect and expansive hotel? You can stay outside, if you want to. But I heard it is supposed to rain tonight.” With that, Mamoru vanished back inside.

Nico still frowned. “He can’t be serious.”

The others moved past her and entered the building without looking back. Nico gaped. “You! Can’t be serious!” Gritting her teeth she shuffled around for a moment before she took her small bag and followed everyone inside.

The interior was rather simple as well. A couple of desks and chairs where lined up all over the room, all made out of wood and probably a century old. The same could be said about an old piano. And with some alcohol displayed at the other end of the room, it really looked like an old bar.

“Welcome to Old Rogers’ Tavern, everyone.” A woman in her mid-thirties with long greenish hair and purple eyes greeted them from behind the counter, a cigarette stuck in the corner of her mouth.

With the greeting, Mamoru’s smile became even wider. “Sasahara, it’s been a while. How are you doing?”

Blewing out some smoke, the woman put out the rest of her cigarette. Her eyebrows furrowed. “I’ve seen better times. This mage is truly not what keeps my business going.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem.” Nico muttered from behind the rest of the girls.

A smirk appeared on the older womens features. She walked right through the counter as if it were made out of air and stopped right in front of Nico. “What other problem is there? Sure you don’t talk about the exterior of this building. That’s part of its charm, after all.”

Looking up in awe, Nico gulped. The woman in front of her was at least three heads taller than her. “No… that is…. not the problem.”

“Perfect!” Turning around to face the rest of the group, she smiled. “My name is Sasahara Kyouko. I’m the owner. It is nice to meet you.”

The young mages only nodded which caused Mamoru to laugh. It seemed like they had some respect after all.

“That’s no fun. They are way to stiff. Where did you find them, Mamo?”

“Mamo?” Every gaze in the room turned to Mamoru as the girls repeated the nickname. Surprisingly, the old master started to blush a little.

“They are mages of my guild. We are here because of a request.”

Sasahara’s expression became darker and more serious. “You are talking about that mage and his damn golems, aren’t you?” When Mamoru nodded, Sasahra crossed her arms in front of her chest before she moved back behind the counter, again walking through what still looked like solid wood.

“Yeah. What can you tell me about him?” Sitting down, Mamoru gestured towards a bottle of beer behind the green haired woman, who threw the bottle at him immediately.

Indicating that the girls sat down as well, Sasahara leaned forward and rested her arms on the wood. “He is a talented mage, skilled in the usage of making golems. I can’t tell how much, but three at least. They are made out of any material at hand, mostly rock, earth and wood. He didn’t need to move so far, that’s why I am not sure about his physical abilities.”

“That’s enough already.” Turning to the girls, Mamoru pointed at Sasahara. “She’s been a member of Sakura Heaven, but decided to leave the guild almost twenty years ago, when she was around your age.”  

Said woman chuckled. “Yeah. And now I own this place. That is what you call an improvement.” she said with a sarcastic smile.

“Don’t sell yourself short. If you wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have a place to stay.” The both of them laughed while the others still sat at their places in silence.

“But you should go rest now.” Sasahara became serious again. “He said he would return tomorrow morning.”

* * *

In an old cave, not far away from the town…

“Well, it seems like we are running out of supplies again. Good thing I scheduled my return for the morning.” A figure, clothed in nothing but black and with a hood covering its face, threw away what was left from an apple.

He sat down on a rock before she looked up at his own creations, carefully resting at the sides. “I am sorry that there is no real challenge for you, my soldiers.” With a flick of his fingers, five pairs of glowing red eyes turned towards him. “But… We are not going to stay that much longer.”

* * *

“They don’t seem to be what one would call an unbeatable team.” Breathing out some smoke into the dark night, Sasahara stood beside Mamoru on the roof.

The girls were already asleep, each of them far away from another.

The old master grunted before he took a sip of his beer and answered. “Those who want to fight can’t stand each other. Those who can’t, won’t. Teamwork is not a part if their vocabulary.”

Sasahara frowned. “Why did you bring them along?”

“Wasn’t my decision.”

“Hana?”

Mamoru nodded. “But if she trusts them, I’ll do, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, huh?  
> Well, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter nontheless. I try not to let too much time pass again, so stay tuned. :)
> 
> Visit me on tumblr: sunokasai.tumblr.com


	3. [Arc 1 - The Union] Lost in Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After reaching their destination the girls have to face their enemy. But he is amazingly powerful. They struggle with the mission they were assigned to... and with themselves. What they need is a leader. Will they find one?

In the early morning the little tavern was engulfed in silence again. Sasahara sat in one of the chairs, her heels on a table and a cigarette casually between her lips. Her gaze lingered on the ceiling, her eyes far from fixated. The scene of how the nine girls left her establishment just a couple of minutes ago replayed itself over and over again in her mind. How half of them had been bickering to just stay out of each other’s way and how the other half had just seemed utterly terrified or just not interested.

Sitting upright and taking the cigarette between her fingers, she smiled solemnly.

"I hope you know what you’re doing.”

* * *

 

The main street was empty. No one dared to take a step outside and the members of the Nishikino household had left the previous day. Which left the nine members of Sakura Heaven all alone on the dusty road in front of the fountain.

While Kotori, Hanayo and Honoka sat by the water, as much in the background as possible, the others stood or leaned against a wall, as much space as possible between them.

Nico, being the one at the far front, impatiently walked around. "Where the hell is this guy?"

"He won't appear just because you want him to." Standing at the other side of the street, Maki's gaze looked in the far distance in case their enemy entered the town.

"I am not talking about this golem-guy." All eyes wander to the raven haired mage. "I am talking about Mamoru. Did you guys see him since we left the tavern?"

"Now that you mention it..." Everyone started to look around but no one was able to see the former master of their guild nearby.

He had left with them, walking out of the tavern at last. On the way to their current location no one had paid that much attention what was going on behind them, so neither of them noticed the old man disappearing.

A high scream suddenly made them jump and Eli and Umi instantly got  into a fighting stance. When they turned to where the scream came from they saw Hanayo on her knees with tears in her eyes.

"When... when Mamoru-san isn't here w-w-we.... we will stand no chance..."

The blonde and the navy haired girl relaxed and frowned. “If you can’t handle it, go back to the guild.” Eli sneers, making Hanayo cry even more.

"And more importantly, we don't need him. You have the world’s best mage with you." Nico announced proudly.

"And the world’s best mage jumps out of her skin and falls down on her butt upon hearing a mere scream?" Eli crossed her arms above her chest and looked rather sceptically at Nico, who blushed deeply.

"I stumbled, that's all." The black haired mage averted  her gaze.

"Yeah, because the best stumble while not walking." With an arrogant and amused smile on her face, Eli walked past Nico.

"Could you please stop bickering?" Just like the day before, Honoka tried to calm them down, but without Mamoru around it was just not possible. He was the only one the three troublemakers would listen to. So all she could do was comforting Hanayo together with Kotori.

"Honestly, I'd prefer if you keep on going, because it's just way too funny to watch you guys."

All their eyes turned up to the roof of a nearby house. But with the sun directly in front of them, they had to squeeze them almost shut to be able to see anything. All that they could make out was a black silhouette.

"Well, if you don't want to, maybe I should keep this party going? How about it?" The person jumped down and landed upright on the street right in front if them.

With the shadow of the house falling upon him, the girls were able to see the newcomer. He sported short, mussy black hair and wore an ugly smirk on his face. Dark brown eyes stare in their direction while an old worn cloak covered the rest of his body, hiding the rest of himself away.

“May you please tell us who you are?” Walking to the front of their group, Umi fixated her eyes on the stranger.  

A laughter made its way over to them. The person started to walk up and down without even looking at the mages in front of him. “Who might I be? What do you think?”

He paced in front of the building he hopped down from. His finger tapped his chin as if he was thinking hard about an answer. All the while he kept one eye on the nine girls in front of him. When no one answered him, he stopped and turned to them, his fists in his hips in mock annoyance.

“Come on, if you don’t play along, this won’t be fun!”

Again silence greeted him.

“Ok, I’ll give you a hint.” He slightly bowed forward, as if telling a child a secret. “I like to play with dirt and love to create beings. Does this ring a bell?”

As if on cue, an ice shard flew towards him, aimed at his head. He leaned his head slightly to the left and the shard passed him, missing him by an inch. The icy cold that came with the shard grazed his skin and made him shiver slightly.

A small smirk appeared on his features as he faced a certain blonde, icy dust emitting from her hands.

“Seems like you’re more interested in other games. But to reward your first question with an answer… finally.”

With a sweeping motion he threw his arms in the air before his right came to a stop in front of his stomach while his left pointed to the side. He took a step back with his left leg and bowed deeply. “Jurek Alumii, master of the earthly creatures at your service.”

Looking through the strands of hair that had fallen into his vision, he saw how the blonde, a navy haired, a small black haired and a ginger got ready. He had to admit that their stances were pretty good, allowing them to react to whatever an opponent might be up to. They had turned their bodies slightly to the side, reducing what could potentially be targeted while their leg positions allowed them to dodge. They were just good, not perfect, but they’re useless if not being attacked head on. Something he wouldn’t even dream about doing.

What caught his attention afterwards were the other five mages. The redhead didn’t seem like she was about to do anything to engage in combat with him. Instead she backed away, but kept her eyes focused on what’s happening around her. Jurek started to wonder what she was up to.

Three others, a grey heard girl, someone with glasses and another ginger with a side ponytail however clearly tried to get away. They were slowly walking to the side, probably aiming for one of the alleys nearby. They were backed up by a purple haired girl who looked for something in her small bag.

The situation, he concluded, was certainly in his favour. “Oh man, to think that a guild would send something like you to defeat me.” He would concentrate on the four girls ahead of him. They seemed to be at least a little bit capable. “Well then, I think I’ve played my game long enough. Let’s get serious.”

Straightening back up Jurek snipped with his fingers. The ground beneath him started to shake a little and loose stones cracked off of the buildings around them to gather right before him in two separate piles. “Come forth, my servants.”

The stones and earth started to form a humanoid creature that was slightly more than double the height Eli, the tallest of the group, possessed. Once the golems had been built their eyes flashed a bright red. Stomping on the ground they howled once with a deep voice before their gaze settled on the mages before them.

Rin and Nico looked up, their heads already meeting the back of their necks. “Wow. That’s a really tall guy, nya.”

“Yeah. Seems like life likes to remind me that I am not tall.” Nico deadpanned.

A sly grin made its way onto Rin’s face. “In more than once aspect, nya.”

Turning around to face the younger girl with a death glare, Nico crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest. “As if you are one to talk, Hoshizora.”

“If you’ll ever finish bickering you might like to watch me deconstructing these things.” The voice of a familiar blonde interrupted their talk and they turned around to see Eli and Umi preparing their magic.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Umi took a step forward. “You might regret it.”

The two of them dashed forward the second Umi finished her sentence. Once she was directly in front of the golem, Eli jumped to be on the same level as its head. Directing her left fist onto her right palm an ice blue coloured magic circle appeared. “Ice Make: Eagle!” Moving her still joined hands to the front, an eagle made out of pure ice was released and crashed into the golem with a little explosion. As an effect of the impact, the giant tumbled backwards a little.

“Bulls’ eye.” Smirking, Eli prepared to land on her feet again, but never got the chance. Out of the dust her attack had generated she saw a stone fist. Not being able to react fast enough, the golem hit her and Eli was thrown back into a building.

“Told you you might regret it.” Umi extended her right arm to the side with her palm wide open. A navy blue magic circle appeared, and took the shape of a sword. “Reequip: Stealth Sword!” A katana appeared once the faint glow disappeared. Umi grabbed it with both her hands before slashing down from right to left, aiming at the second golem’s leg. “Stealth Cut!”

Being a couple of feet away from her target, Umi’s sword never touched anything. Nonetheless there was an impact, separating a lot of material from the golem’s leg. But before this instability could have any further effect, the leg was repaired by surrounding earth.

“What?” Not even getting the chance to voice any further surprise Umi had to raise her blade right in front of her to defend a punch that would have sent her flying like Eli.

While Eli got up again, Nico clapped her hands in mock applause. “Wow, impressive. Let the great Nico-nii deal with that.”

Raising both her hands over her head, thumbs and index finger touching, a small stream of sand followed Nico’s movements. “Sand Rush!” Turning around herself once, the raven haired mage swung her arms at her side before releasing a stream of sand to the direction both her hands were pointing at.

“Huh? That spell looks kinda familiar, nya.” Rin noted as she watched the sand hitting its target.

Meanwhile, Nico smiled triumphantly. ”How does this taste, shitty creature?”

“I’d say they enjoyed their meal.” Jurek’s amused voice made its way towards them, leaving Nico and Rin confused. “What does he me-“

When the rest of the sand floating in the air slowly dispersed, Nico had to notice that instead of taking damage the arm of the golem she had attacked got even bigger.

“Impressive indeed.” Eli’s strained voice was heard from behind Nico. ”Attacking a golem made out of earth and stone with sand which is basically the same.” The blonde stood up, stumbling little bit and holding onto her left arm.

“Elichi!” Nozomi called out to her, but the blonde just shoot her a glare which made the purple haired stop.

“None of your business, Tojo.”

“Hey, where is Hoshizora?” Umi redirected all of their intentions back to the missing ginger. They looked around but couldn’t see her. Not until they heard one of the golems groan and a flash of orange hair.

“How the hell did she get there?” Nico gaped.

In a split second Rin appeared in front of them again, flashed them a smile before she speeded off to the next golem again.

“Is she running?!” The raven haired mage shouted. “Athletics Magic? Really?”

Jurek watched the battle from a saver distance as Nico, Eli and Umi got back up again to continue fighting. They faced just two golems and yet they had their problems. They were powerful, but they didn’t use their abilities efficiently. And their teamwork was from another dimension.

When Eli and Nico both attacked with a spell, they got in each other’s way and cancelled their attacks out. An argument followed where they both shouted at each other, not paying attention to the battle in front of them.

“Damn, this is disappointing…” Muttering in an annoyed voice, Jurek commanded one of his golems to attack the two fighting mages. But when it lunged out with his fist to strike, it was stopped shortly right in front of them by a wall of ice. “What?”

With one of her arms extended in front of her, Eli’s gaze wandered from Nico to the golem. She frowned visibly. “Excuse me, but we are in the middle of a discussion. Would you please back down?” She clenched her hand to a fist and sharp spikes grew out of the wall in a split second, piercing the fist made out of stone and earth with ease and destroying it in the process.

The golem cringed back with a deep cry and left its master in utter shock as well as Nico who stood right beside the blonde.

“On a second thought…” the raven haired girl started and took a few steps back, “let’s get back to business.”

“Fine with me, as long as you don’t get in my way again.” Eli allowed the wall to crumble down and rushed forward again, the next spell already visible by a magic circle.

Following the ice mage, Nico shouted back. “Not my fault that we are four mages and there are just two golems!” She focused on the enemy again before starting the next spell, scanning the damage that had been done by the spikes. “If sand doesn’t work but ice does…”

Extending both hands to either side of her body, two magic circles appeared in each hand. But rather than being brown like before, those were blue. “Well then, eat this! Water Nebula!”

Two waves of water rushed up and blasted the golem back a couple of feet. The steady stream caused the material the creature was made of to be washed out.

Looking back at Nico, Eli looked somewhat surprised. “Wait a sec, that’s the spell of… how does she… What?” Before she was able to comprehend what was happening, the golem crumbled down when his waist got to instable to keep it upright.

“Ha! See that, Ayase? Told you I wouldn’t need you!” Nico smiled triumphantly with her right hand forming a victory sign while Eli gritted her teeth.

At the same time, Rin and Umi had their problems, too. Rin used her athletic magic to attack the golem from different spots nearly every second. But since Umi wasn’t able to comprehend where the faster girl was heading she had almost cut Rin more than once. And now she was getting annoyed since she had to back down.

“Hoshizora, stop getting in my way! Literally!”

“Why should Rin, nya? I am efficient.”

Umi couldn’t argue that, but at this rate she wouldn’t be able to strike properly to take the enemy down. Especially since she had an idea and Rin’s method would take more time than necessary.

While watching Rin as best as she could, Umi reequipped another sword. “Serpent Sword.” Appearing just like the first weapon, Umi grabbed the handle of a sword with an impressively long blade. She just had to wait for the right moment with enough space for her to attack with as less risk to hurt the other mage than possible.

When Rin made her way towards the back of the golem, Umi stepped into action. She moved straight ahead with her sword pointing back and stroked from right to left. Her blade cut cleanly through the golem’s middle, making it crumble in front of her.

“Hey!” Rin protested from her position. “It was almost finished, nya!”

With her sword disappearing, Umi looked straight at the younger girl. “You have to be quick. Otherwise the tide might turn, in favour for your enemy.”

Seeing both of his creations destroyed, Jurek smirked. “Well said, young mage.” The four girls turned towards him, ready to ambush him. But they not just eyed him, but each other as well. He knew that each of them wanted to finish him off, being the one who solved the quest. And if they wanted to fight alone, he would grant that.

“How about we take this to the next level.” He again snapped with his finger. The remains of his two golems started to rebuild itself while two additional piles of material were created. Now four golems stood in front of four mages.

“I thought he could create only three of them?” Nico pointed out while getting back into a fighting stance.

“You just complained about there being only two of them, Yazawa.”

“Oh shut up, Ayase, and watch how fast I am going to take this one down. And you too, Sonoda, Hoshizora.”

The four of them dashed forward again, each of them taking on one of the creatures. Jurek had to smile, seeing how naïve these girls were. Now that he had watched each of their abilities he could easily commanded his golems accordingly.

But more importantly now that his creations would stall the four most dangerous enemies, he could start to take down the others. His trump card would do an amazing job.

He looked for the three girls who had tried to hide at the beginning and saw them watching the battle from behind a corner. Who he couldn’t see was the redhead, but he didn’t care. He focused on the trio and snapped his finger again, smirking when they suddenly turned around.

Nozomi, who stood nearest to them, felt the ground shaking, too. She looked ahead, watching the four girls as they fought against a golem each, each of them having some problems. The golems obviously acted differently now, as if they got used to their attacks.

“Kyaaaaa!!”

A scream made Nozomi turn and she saw Kotori, Hanayo and Honoka stumbling out an alley, fleeing from a fifth golem. “What? Another one?” She turned around to the others and shouted. “There’s another one!” The four of them turned to her shortly but focused back to their opponents almost immediately. “Hey!”

“They should defend themselves! It’s four versus one, isn’t it?” Nico shouted back briefly.

Taking out some cards, the purple haired girl fritted her teeth. “Damn.” She took three of them and focused. “Heaven, Reverse Death, Mountain! Summoned Lightening!” Using the cards like a fan, a magic circle appeared that summoned green lightning bolts, hitting the golem’s left shoulder. She had tried to get its attention, but it still moved towards the other three girls.

Honoka, Kotori and Hanayo tried to back away as much as possible. The grey haired girl reached into her pocket and took out a golden key. But before she was able to use it, Hanayo stumbled and fell down.

"Hanayo-chan!” Honoka tried to reach her, but before she was able to, the golem lunged back and hit her the moment she stood back up. She managed to use her arms as protection but was still thrown backwards, right into Honoka and Kotori who caught her but fell to the ground regardless.

“Koizumi-san!” Nozomi ran to the three girls, but was stopped dead in her tracks when the golem stepped between her and the girls on the ground.

Eli, Nico, Rin and Umi had been alerted by the last shout as well and looked to them, losing their focus themselves. Jurek used that moment to command his creations to attack them and successfully pushed them backwards as well.

Jurek started laughing. “Look at you! Pathetic! Did you think it would be that easy to take me down?” With everyone but Nozomi on the ground and Maki not even being on the battlefield he took a step forward. “Now then, let’s end this.”

The moment all five golems wanted to strike a wall of earth rose from the ground, stopping each fist immediately.

“What the hell is happening now?” Jurek looked around. His eyes met with those of an older man on the opposite roof.

“Mamoru-san!” Nozomi was the first of the girls to notice him.

“Mamoru? Damn it… Don’t tell me he is in charge of those girls.” Knowing that he couldn’t take down the well-known former master of Hidden Secret, Jurek decided to back down. “I wanted to depart after this either way. It’ll suck without some goods from this raid, but it’s better than being beat up by this monster.”

The walls retreated back into the ground when Jurek started to make his way backwards. The moment he jumped back he saw a flash of red to his left.

Maki appeared out of an alley and reached out with her left hand. A golden bubble shot forwards and for a second Jurek feared that he had tried to escape too late. But once the bubble touched him it disappeared into thin air. It didn’t hurt and he couldn’t see any other effect.

“Whatever that was…” he muttered and vanished behind a building, out of sight from the Hidden Secret mages.

Nico was the first back on her feet. “We have to chase him!” She attempted to take a step but someone grabbed her left wrist and stopped her. Turning around she looked at Mamoru.

“There are more important things to deal with at the moment.” He pointedly looked to the side. Following his glance Umi, Nico, Rin and Eli watched how Kotori and Honoka helped Hanayo while Nozomi just stood at the side. 

“Hanayo-chan, are you ok?” Honoka kneeled in front of the younger girl who held her left arm with a pained expression and tears streaming down her cheeks. All she could do was shake her head while Kotori comforted her.

Approaching the trio, Maki kneeled down as well. “May I take a look?” Once Hanayo nodded, the red head started to examine the injury as gentle as possible. After a moment she looked up again. “I can’t tell for sure but I guess it’s broken. I can treat it, but we have to go back to the tavern since I left some stuff I’ll need there.”

Before any of them could mutter protest, Mamoru decided what to do. “Then we’ll head back. No buts.”

* * *

 

The atmosphere in the tavern was heavy. Everyone who would walk in would be able to tell. It was deadly silent except for the occasional sobs of Hanayo while Maki put the girls arm in a splint.

“What a disgrace.” Nico muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. “We would have been able to deal with this but noooooooo… Some people just get in the way.”

Remembering their problem earlier, Eli felt like being accused and snarled back. “Thank goodness you are able to tell that you were the problem.”

“What?!” The raven haired mage stood up, sending the chair she was sitting in to the ground with a loud thud. “If your attack wouldn’t have cancelled out mine this golem would have fallen way earlier than it did! Just like the second one that was about to get wrecked by me.”

“Oh please, you couldn’t handle the second one at all!”

“As did you!”

“You looked both pretty beaten, nya!” Rin commented, which caused her to be targeted as well. This time by Umi.

“Don’t pretend like you weren’t a problem. I almost cut you in half like what? Ten times?”

“How about you aim better, nya?”

Sasahara and Mamoru sat at the counter and watched them and sighed deeply. The four of them engaged in a heated argument who was at fault for this failure, each of them refusing to see that everyone was to blame. But it seemed like they agreed on one thing.

“Why are we even arguing about us? How about the ones who didn’t even care and rather hid than helped. Or disappeared at all. Not that we would have needed it, but still!” Nico threw her arms in the air glaring at Maki, Hanayo, Kotori and Honoka.

While Maki looked like she didn’t care and instead twirled some of her red locks around her finger, Kotori and Hanayo glanced at the floor ashamed. Honoka on the other hand was like a statue.

“Let’s not forget the reason why we lost the chance to actually successfully end this mission, ultimately making this a failure.” Eli pointed out while looking at Hanayo with a dark glare. The younger girl started crying again.

Umi, Rin and Nico looked at her, too, but while Rin immediately looked away rather shocked and somewhat ashamed once she saw the other girl in such a state, Umi and Nico nodded, agreeing with the blonde mage.

“Not moving a finger but causing this mission to fail. Great. Are you happy?”

Before Hanayo could answer Nico, the ground started to shake.

“What the? Is he coming back?” Glancing around in panic, Umi readied herself.

Cracks were forming and parted parts of the floor and spread towards the walls. When the navy haired mage followed those cracks she saw where they connected and where their origin was. And once she realized, her eyes widened.

The source of those destruction stood right in front of them, in the middle of the room. She had her hands clenched into fists, knuckles white and head bowed so that no one could see her face. But just from the amount of cracks and the force of the quake everyone could tell that Honoka was angry.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” She had started quietly, but Honoka had shouted the last part of her question. Her body was shaking as well. “What the hell is wrong with you for you to be able to do nothing but fight each other?! What is wrong with us?! Aren’t we at least comrades in arms? As members of the same guild?”

Everyone in the room looked at the ginger in awe. No one had expected such an outburst. But thankfully with Honoka starting to voice her thoughts the ground had stopped splitting and shaking. Still, they were all speechless.

“I don’t know why you do what you are doing, but is it worth that other people are getting hurt in the process? And that you just accept it?!”

By now tears were streaming down Honoka’s face. They gathered in a small pool on her chin before dropping down.

“Aren’t Minami-san and Mamoru-san always telling us that a guild is just like family? That we have to care for each other? So what now? What are we for hurting our family members or for allowing them to get hurt? Some sort of monster?”

She finally looked up, sadness and anger all over her face. “If you were with the ones you love… would you do the same? What do you think they would think of you? That you don’t care about others? And what would they say, hm?”

The room was silent again. No one dared to say a word. Instead everyone was looking at the floor except Honoka who stood there, head held high but still crying.

The silence lasted a couple of moments before applause echoed through the tavern. Everyone turned around to face its source – Mamoru.

“I couldn’t have said it better. No – I doubt I would have said something this meaningful.” He dropped his hands into his lap again.

“You are right, Honoka-chan. You are members of the same guild. But now you’re not just a group, you’re a team that has been send on a mission together. But for a team of nine people with so many different personalities to function properly… you’ll need a leader.” He said.

“And you were sent with us to be the leader, am I right?” Umi asked.

Mamoru laughed. “Oh no. I am just your guide. Hana… I mean Minami, had thought that something like this would happen and that you might need some sort of, well, guidance.” He smiled fondly. “But you’ll need a leader, that’s certain. Someone who understood the principles of our guild. The one who first had the courage to oppose the way you were acting.”

His eyes met Honoka’s. “Someone who hasn’t realized yet that she would be a great leader.”

Honoka’s eyes widened and she looked at the old master in shock while he just smiled at her.

“That’s great and all.” Nico suddenly said. “But where’s the point? He’s gone. We’ve failed. End of mission.”

“Not quite.” Everyone turned to Maki. “Remember that bubble I shot at him? It may have been magic that allows me to track him down.”

“You can do that?” Nozomi asked.

A small golden magic circle appeared before Maki. She tapped it once and the circle grew into some sort of screen with an interface and a keyboard. “It’s called Archive and allows me to store any sort of information as magical data. I can access these whenever I need them… and when I mark someone like I did earlier I can track his or her movements.”

Everyone looked at Maki in awe and Rin even muttered a quiet “Awesome.”

“Now then… How about you all think about what has been said before you get out to end this mission successfully?” Mamoru said and turned around to grab another beer from a shelf nearby.

* * *

 

Eli sat alone on a destroyed building’s rooftop. Even though she wasn’t as sensitive to the cold as others thanks to her magic’s nature, the blanket around her shoulders provided a pleasant amount of warmth.

“What would they think about me?” A sad and rare smile made its way onto her features. The blonde hugged her knees tight and rested her chin upon them.

She didn’t like to think back on her past. If she was brutally honest, everything that happened left a big invisible scar on her. She was aware that her cold nature pushed people away from her. But she never reflected on her own actions. Maybe the others pushed her back because she had pushed them first.

An image of a small child with slightly damper blonde hair and darker blue eyes appeared in front of her. A memory of happier days, with her little sister. Thinking about it, she used to smile more often, especially around her. She would have never wanted someone to get hurt, except someone had hurt her or her family first.  

But now? She didn’t even care about Hanayo’s injury. She had taken it for granted, people got injured during a battle, didn’t they? But was it her fault? Maybe. Up until now she had only thought about her one goal. Everything left and right of her path didn’t seem to be important.

Was this really what she needed to do to achieve her goal?

“Cute and clever Elichika, hm?” Ironic, that the nickname she thought of being annoying and that Nozomi had bestowed upon her was so close to the nickname she had loved when she had been a small child, Eli thought. A nickname her grandmother had given her.

Leaning her head back she looked into the sky and searched for one specific star. “Would you still love you big sister if you’d know what she’s doing…. Alisa?” 

* * *

 

Never had the cards not told her what to do. Never had they refused to answer her question. It was a situation Nozomi never had been faced with. Yet, here she was, after her tenth drawing, still with nothing of use.

The purple haired girl sighed and shuffled her cards absentmindedly. Honoka’s question still lingered in her mind. But how was she supposed to answer that? Ever since she was a small child she had been with the guild. Most of her lifetime she had spent in the guild. Even though the other members did their best to make her feel a part of all of this, she never had been able to think of all of this of home. She never had one. Her parents had been merchants, traveling around all the while, occupied with their goods and clients. She was basically raised by strangers on the markets and the books she had read while hiding in the guilds library. 

It was only natural that she didn’t know, couldn’t imagine, what people close to her would say about her now, and that the concept of a proper family was unknown to her despite her being with the guild for so long. 

“Maybe… if I’d ask another question…?” Instead of looking back into the past, Nozomi tried to look ahead. To predict her own future was something she was afraid of. She never wanted to know what fate had in store for her, scared that she wouldn’t be able to change it.

She decided to lay out three cards in total. Taking a deep breath, Nozomi started to shuffle her deck before she laid out the three cards on top. She looked at them while her hand roamed over the cards that lay face down on the table in front of her.

She turned around the first one: upward ‘Lovers’. Nozomi furrowed her brow. The lovers symbolized a choice she had to make and that she had to trust her own heart with this. It was the first time she had drawn this card for herself.

Turning around the second card, the upward ‘Wheel of Fortune’ appeared. A symbol to embrace whatever may happen by harmonizing herself with the fate ahead. Nozomi hesitated. She knew that without the third and last card, this could mean everything. And yet, she already had an idea what the cards tried to tell her.

With the third card, her heart skipped a beat: upward ‘Death’. Unknown to most of the people, the death-card didn’t symbolize death literally. It symbolized an end, sure. But not the end of everything. Change may have been a better explanation.

With this spread before her, Nozomi sighed. If she made a choice, the right one, and accepted it with her heart, the life she knew up to this point was bound to change.

“But do I really want to?” If she was honest, Nozomi was just afraid to be hurt again, to be left alone. Right now, if she really decided to embrace what was in front of her, she was bound to get hurt again. “But if they were to change, too….”

She collected her cards again. This time she would try to walk the path Honoka’s question had opened up for her.

* * *

 

Maybe walking around town late at night wasn’t a good idea, Rin thought. But right now she just needed to be alone, needed to breathe some fresh air.

The air in this town smelled differently than in the village she called home. When she was a child, Rin had loved to explore the forest nearby, sometimes arriving back home when the moon had already been at its peak. But her parents had never scolded her. They had merely given her advice about how she had to react in certain situations.

Strength was something important in her family. Their bloodline was the only one in the village that was able to bring forth mages. They had to protect the village, they had explained when she had been presented with a bag. The very same bag that would keep her belongings during her journey. They never had asked her if she wanted to, which she didn’t. But she had never questioned that either.

Never had she questioned the meaning of strength.

If she was to return now, would her family be proud of her growth? Proud what she had become? Did strength equal physical abilities?

Honoka’s words had confused her. Up until now it had been this simple equation: strength is physical power. But Honoka had presented her another option: teamwork and being together with others. The memory of Hanayo crying still pained her somehow.

Rin stopped in the middle of the street and looked up at the stars. They were her guide on her journey. She’d always reached for them. “But does Rin have to do this on her own, nya?”

She remembered her father telling stories of his journey. He never was alone, he always had comrades he talked about.

“Maybe… I’ve misunderstood everything, nya.” Maybe it was time to strive for another type of strength.

* * *

 

Nico sat on the main plaza upon the fountain. She was observing a family through a window, how they sat together, smiling and talking with each other. 

Honoka had made her think. The question repeated itself over and over again in her mind. Would she be acting like this with her family around? The answer was obvious. Of course she wouldn’t. She was the oldest of three siblings, the one trying to gain what money the family needed to afford living.

Her mother couldn’t work anymore. After her little brother, the youngest of them all, had been born she stayed at home. Refusing to tell Nico why she wasn’t able to do anything but the household anymore, even though it was obvious that it had something to do with her father, the raven haired mage had decided to take care all on her own.

She would do anything to grant her family a life with as much comfort as possible, even if she had to accept the most dangerous quest.

At home, she was the loving sister, not wanting any of them to get hurt.

And yet, here she sat. Just a couple of hours ago she had accepted someone else to get hurt because all she could think of was the reward and how it would help her family.

“When did I turn into this, caring that much about money?” Gritting her teeth Nico thought of how right Umi and Eli had been. Even though they didn’t know about her background, the way she acted really made it seem like she just wanted to make as much money as possible.

Nico pinched her left cheek and cried out in pain. That was what she deserved for being such an idiot. “Come on, Nico. You’re one of the oldest, so take care of the younger ones!”

Her eyes drifted back to the tiny family again. She smiled contentedly before she slid down from her position to get back to the tavern. 

* * *

 

The blade always shone beautiful in the pale moonlight, Umi thought, as she cleaned the metal. It truly was a masterpiece. She had battled against solid rock and there had yet to be a single permanent scratch. She shouldn’t been surprised though, seeing that her father was the blacksmith who forged the ‘Stealth Sword’.

Thinking about her father Umi lowered her tools, her gaze becoming solemn. How long has it been since she had left home, she wondered. Did her family even care?

As a Sonoda she had been fated to be proficient in many areas from the moment she was born. When it was discovered that she could use magic the pressure on her had become even greater with her family having even higher expectations.

But she always had one flaw.

Thus she had decided to be even better than she should be, to work harder than she needed to. But whatever she’d done, the people around her always thought of it as being normal. She was a Sonoda after all. That had made her think. What other way was there to achieve the respect one longed for?

In the end she had decided to leave. She would try to be known all around the kingdom, so that she could finally show the people she wanted to know that she was more than just a Sonoda and worth of everything they valued.

But was someone who allowed a person to get hurt physically and who hurt a person emotionally worth to be respected? Umi knew the answer and she hated herself for being an idiot. She had been hurt, too. That was part of the reason she had left. And now she was the same.

Honoka had opened up her eyes. And she would repay what she owed the other girl, now and in the future.

* * *

 

Golden keys were rather rare. With only twelve of them existing, every Celestial Spirit Mages wished to own at least one of them. They were able to summon the Zodiac Spirits, some of the strongest allies one could wish for.

It wasn’t the first time that Kotori wondered why she owned two of them while polishing all her keys.

She had received the first golden key when she had turned ten. Apparently her grandmother had owned it, but her mother had never been able to use Celestial Spirit Magic. That’s why Kotori had become its keeper. She understood that and she would keep it, seeing that it was a heirloom.

But the second key had somewhat found its way to her on its own, seeing that the spirit within had asked for a contract with her the moment they had met. Kotori had wanted to give this key to someone who would use it properly, but the spirit didn't accept a ‘No.’. Yet it was just coincidence that she had stumbled upon it in the archive of an old church she had visited on one of the few missions she had accepted.

Sure, she was the guild master's daughter. With her mother being one of the strongest mages in her generation and a prodigy in magic, everyone had expected Kotori to be a prodigy as well. But truth be told: she wasn’t. She had tried but except Celestial Spirit Magic nothing would answer her call as her teacher had put it. Despite that, she had been granted with a huge amount of magic power. But what for?

She was gentle, hated fighting, and would rather run away and hide than getting into trouble. She was shy and calm and wouldn’t start a conversation on her own. And yet everyone expected her to be the next master.

“Honoka-chan would fit this position better than me, but…” She put the cloak she used to clean her keys with away and gently turned the item around so that it would reflect the light of the candle beside her.

“…but I can’t run away forever.” The incident with Hanayo and Honoka’s speech had given her the courage she had always needed. “If I want to protect them, I’ll just have to try.”

* * *

 

 “Damn it, damn it, damn it.” It wasn’t like her to get this nervous, Maki thought. But here she was, walking up and down in the tavern’s backyard.

She had to hold back her laughter when Honoka had finished her rant. It was just so ridiculous that it was almost sad.  She knew exactly what her family would think of her right now. And it would definitely be quite the opposite of what the older girl had expected it to be.

Well, she couldn’t expect them to understand in the first place. They hadn’t been raised like her and their social statuses were from different dimensions each. Not that Maki cared. If she cared she wouldn’t dig a furrow in the backyard of an old and shabby tavern by the name of “Old Roger’s Tavern”.

After all, her social status restricted her more than she gained freedom.

She had understood that years ago. Status and wealth weren’t worth a single coin if you were bound to your family’s obligations and responsibilities. You were allowed to have dreams of your own but you had to keep dreaming because you’d never get the chance to fulfil them. You basically lived in a golden cage.

Breaking free was one way to escape this cage. But with this decision came several risks. One of them she had to face yesterday when those underlings of the Nishikinos had rested in this town. So she had hid. That was all she would ever do. Hiding.

That wasn’t why she had escaped her cage. She didn’t want to be a coward but being a cowards was all she did. She wanted to live her dream rather than just dreaming. But ever since she took a step out into the wide world Maki hadn’t made any progress at all.

Sure, she had learned a lot of medical skills while working with Konoe, the medical advisor of the guild. That’s why she had been able to treat Hanayo earlier. But that wasn’t what she wanted to do, even if she enjoyed it.

“Do I want to be a coward or do I want to finally be able to fulfil that one wish? Damn it, why does this have to be so difficult.”

Recalling Honoka’s words Maki stopped and took a deep breath. “A family, huh? Would be nice to have one who actually cares. Maybe…” Maybe she would stop being a coward. 

* * *

 

Even though it still pounded as if her arm had a heart of its own and thus still hurt quite a bit, Hanayo had to admit that Maki had done a really good job.

After Mamoru had suggested that they should think about their situation a little, everyone had left the main room of the tavern except for her. Sasahara had brought her a cup of tea before she disappeared as well. She could only speculate what all the others were doing at the moment.

Hanayo was dealing with her own thoughts at the moment. Triggered by Honoka she tried to remember her real parents, but just like every other time her subconscious refused to come up with pictures and memories.

Becoming an orphan at a very young age, Hanayo lived with several families until Minami took her with her to the guild. No one ever treated her nice because she’d always been rather weak and fragile despite her showing a talent for magic at an even younger age. Unfortunately she didn't have control over her powers back then and thus had become somewhat afraid of it. While she was able to handle her magic now, her physical ‘problems’ were still the same.

Therefore she knew exactly what every single family she stayed with would think and it would never be anything positive.

That’s why she couldn’t blame Eli and Nico when they had said it was her fault. Sure, she was sad because she felt like she was a burden. She probably was. But it hurt that because of her everyone else had failed. It hurt even more than her arm.

“I just don’t want to be a bother again…” Hanayo muttered after taking a sip from her tea. She laid her hand flat on the table and watched how a single flower grew out of her index finger. That was her magic. It was gentle but it also was destructive, whatever she preferred.

Maybe it could be protective as well.

* * *

 

Ever since she left the tavern and saw the damage she had caused and the possible destruction this could have ended with, all Honoka did was staring at her still shaking hands. 

She hated it. She hated that she could be such a danger to the people around her. Remembering the day her own father brought her to the guild, scared just as much as she had been was painful. She still thought that it had been a miracle that no one had died when the building she called home crumbled down.

And ultimately she had seen it in their eyes. In her mother’s, in her father’s and in her sisters’. The fear and the panic. How they had stepped back when she had been approaching them.

“I’m a damn hypocrite, am I not?” Honoka’s voice was strained from keeping her tears at bay.

She had called them monsters even though she already was a monster. She had asked them what their loved ones thought of them when she already knew the answer of her own family.

“How can he even think of me as a leader? I am nothing like that!” Clenching her fists and bringing them to her finally wet eyes, Honoka slid down the wall behind her.

From the moment she had stepped inside the guild hall and had been accepted by Minami-san as a member, Honoka would keep her distance. She was too afraid to hurt someone. No one was allowed to touch her, everyone had to keep distance.

She was said to be shy while back at home she was full of energy. She would run around all day and get into trouble, helping everyone she could think of. Now she was just a shadow of the girl she once was.

“I wonder… if the others ever had the chance to choose their magic.” She was jealous, she had to admit. With no control over a magic she didn’t even want to have, what was she supposed to do?

“How am I supposed to lead when I don’t even know where I am heading myself?”

* * *

 

Honoka didn’t know how late it actually was once she saw the tavern in front of her, just that the stars and the moon at the night sky did an amazing job in illuminating the streets. A faint light shone out of the closed windows, telling her that some people were still awake.

With her hands she got rid of the last traces of her tears before she walked towards the front door. No one had to see that she had been crying. But when she stepped into the room, her eyes widened.

Everyone was there. Not just Mamoru and Sasahara, but the other eight girls, too. They turned around to face her once they heard the door open, some of them smiling at her while others looked as disinterested as ever.

“What is everyone doing here?” Honoka still stood in the entrance rather awkwardly.

Umi sat at a table close by, her arms crossed above her chest as she looked at the ginger haired mage. “We still have to make a decision, remember? And since you play a major role we couldn’t get started without you.”

“Now then.” Mamoru started as he turned around at the counter. “I’ll make it quick. You still need to rest if you plan on fighting a second time.”

Reaching out with her left arm, Honoka took a step forward. “Wait! Can we talk about it a-“

“Everyone in favour of Honoka Kousaka being this teams leader during this mission please raise your hand.”

With Mamoru’s request everyone raised a hand except Honoka herself. “-little bit more…”

She looked around in shook, taking in everyone’s expression. Kotori showed her a thumbs up alongside her encouraging smile and even Maki, who normally acted as if she didn’t care, had her hand in the air and a small smile tugging at her lips.

“You can’t be serious…” She couldn’t believe it. Just minutes ago she had questioned herself and now everyone wanted her to be their leader. “W-Why? Why me? Mamoru-san, tell them I can’t!”

“This is not my decision, Honoka.” The old master replied. “And I guess it is not my job to tell them what you want me to.”

“Whatever your personal issue is at the moment”, Nico interrupted. “If it has something to do with you not fighting; that shouldn’t be a problem. And I don’t think that we made our choice based on that.”

“Yazawa’s right.” Eli stepped forward from where she stood at the side lines. “It’s rather trivial, to be honest.”

“Honoka-chan?” Kotori’s calm voice made Honoka look up. “Once we’d been alone, all of us started to think. About what you’d told us and… about ourselves.” She stood up and approached the other girl. Once she stood right in front of her she took Honoka’s hands and squeezed them as reassurance. “We all came to some conclusions. One of them that we want you to guide us through this battle. Maybe not as some sort of general, but as support. Your words affected us more than you might think and the fact that you’ve reached us all is enough for us to trust you to make the right decisions.”

Kotori showed a brilliant smile to Honoka. “You think you could do that?”

It was the first time in years that Honoka had allowed someone to take her hands while she had been such an emotional mess and thus didn’t have complete control. But Kotori had managed to calm her down – enough that she could make the first decision.

“Ok then. I… I’ll do it.”

What she hadn’t expected was Kotori and Hanayo, who had stood up as well at some point, to hug her tightly. And what she had expected less was Rin joining them.

When they separated, the young orange haired mage scratched her neck nervously, keeping most of her attention on Hanayo. “I – uhm…. Rin’s sorry for what happened, nya. Please don’t be angry… Rin’s just lost focus what was more important.”

Smiling at each other, Kotori, Honoka and Hanayo captured Rin for another hug.

“Don’t expect me to get all friendly.” The bundle of people turned around to meet the gaze of Eli. “If beating this guy means working together, so be it. But we’re not going to be friends.”

“Count me in on that, too. If you need my service, I’ll always help you. But that’s it.” Umi said.

Everyone turned around to look at Nico, the last of the four more aggressive mages. Confused, she looked back until she knew why they were watching her. “Well… I wouldn’t mind as long as you don’t get in my way. The great mage Nico-nii still needs to be awesome after all.”

Hanayo and Kotori just smiled at her while Rin and Honoka cheered.

Nozomi sat in silence and watched Eli. When the ice mage noticed her staring she turned around with a deep frown. “What?”

“Nothing, I just thought that being alone doesn’t suit you.” Forcing a smile, Nozomi looked at Eli.

The blonde snorted in return. “If you don’t mind… Take care of yourself first before you try to give me advice.”

Before Nozomi could answer, Maki interrupted the scene. “Now that we decided on teamwork we should plan a strategy.” Using her archive magic she opened up a screen and an interface. “First we should know what magic we’re using each. That will make it easier to coordinate ourselves.”

With a swift movement of her arms, Maki enlarged the screen in front of her for everyone to see its contents. Currently it showed a picture of the girls each, with Maki’s being accompanied by a note.

“Archive and… Dispel?” Hanayo read aloud.

Maki nodded. “Archive is a really passive magic, but I wanted to be able to at least defend myself somehow. Dispel causes the negation of a spell and is quite useful at times. If Ayase would launch an ice shard at me I would be able to negate it… probably.” Seeing the smile on Eli’s face, Maki glared at her. “Don’t you dare try it.”

Nico kept looking at the screen. She had sat down on a chair, her face in her hand and elbow resting atop a table. “Seems pretty lame to me.”

Maki redirected her glare at Nico but before she could answer herself, Sasahara chimed in. “Not necessarily. Just because Ichinose-san choose magic that was not designed for combat, she is not weak. I take it that the amount of information you can save with Archive is limited by your magic power?”

“Correct. I have yet to use all my memory so I don’t know about the real amount.” Typing into her interface, Maki selected the next portrait. “Anyways… Hoshizora, you’re next. What’s your magic?”

Rin smiled brightly and jumped from one foot to the other. “High Speed, nya!”

Beside her picture appeared the name of said magic. Looking at the younger girl, Umi muttered a quiet “Figured as much.” before her attention was brought back by Maki humming a response and asking Hanayo for her magic.

“G-Green Magic.” Shifting in her seat, Hanayo looked at the floor rather nervously.

“Wait a second.” Eli interrupted. “How is she supposed to fight with a broken arm?”

Everyone looked at the blonde mage and then at Hanayo. “She has a point…” Umi agreed.

“I-I know you think… that I am a burden. But… But I want to help! I can help! My plants are strong. I am sure I can use them in a defensive manner!” For the first time the other girls saw a determined look on Hanayo’s face and Mamoru had to smile a little proudly.

“There you go.” Adding Hanayo’s information into her database, Maki selected the next person: Eli.

“Dynamic Ice Make.”

“Dynamic? What does this mean?” Kotori turned around to look at Eli for an answer.

The blonde sighed. “There are two types of Ice Make Magic: Static and Dynamic. While the first one creates inanimate objects such as weapons or manipulates the area around its user, Dynamic Ice Make creates animated sculptures like animals.”

Kotori looked at Eli in awe. “So… you could create an animal right here, right now?”

Using both her hands by placing one fist on her flat palm again, Eli casted her magic and in a split second a little mouse made out of ice appeared on the floor who ran around the room.

With bright eyes, Rin watched the little creature moving around her legs. “Awesome, nya.”

“Yeah, yeah, impressive.” Not even bothering to look at the scenario in front of her, Nico closed her eyes.

Raising her eyebrow, Maki looked at her. “And what is your oh so awesome magic, Yazawa?”

Nico grinned and looked around but didn’t answer.

“She used Sand Magic before, nya.” Rin raised her hand as if she were in school.

“Another time she used Water Magic.” Eli looked at Nico with raised eyebrows as if she tried to figure something out. Nico just looked back, the same smirk on her face. “Both times the spells as well as the way she executed them looked familiar…” And as if she just figured it out, Eli smiled back triumphantly. “You’re copying another person’s magic, don’t you? You can use Mimic, am I right?”

“I have to say I am a little disappointed you figured it out that fast but yeah, Mimic it is.” That was the moment Nico realized something. “Wait, how did you know? That type of magic is rare as far as I had been told!”

“I am literally living in a library. How do you think I spent my time?”

“Before Yazawa and Ayase start a real fight, let’s move on to Tojo.” Maki interrupted the two mages loudly which earned her a deathly glare from both of them. But she didn’t care.

Nozomi took out a deck of tarot cards and showed them to Maki. “Magic Card.”

“Not bad…” The redhead muttered while she added the information. “Sonoda?”

“Requip – The Fighter.”

“Why did you add that title?” Honoka looked at Umi with a confused expression.

“There is basic usage of Requip Magic with people being able to change into another sort of clothing. I am sure Mamoru-san can use that.” She looked over to the old guild master for clarification. Once he nodded, Umi continued. “Skilled mages can use it to summon weapons or even armour in battle. If they have a unique style, they tend to add that. Seeing that I use this type of magic to equip different sorts of weapons to attack, I called my style ‘The Fighter’”

“Sounds awesome again.” Honoka looked at Umi with a sparkle in her eyes that caused Umi to look away with a huge blush on her face.

“Almost done. Minami-san, do you mind…?”

“Not at all.” Smiling at Maki, Kotori took out her bundle of keys. “I can use Celestial Spirit Magic.”

“Oh.” Nozomi walked over to Kotori to examine the keys a little more. “I am kind of jealous. Even golden keys… You’re a lucky girl, Kotori-chan.” She said in a cheerful voice. A compliment that Kotori returned with a smile of her own.

“Are they special in some way?” Nico asked. “The golden keys.”

“You bet they are.” Nozomi silently asked for permission to hold the keys and Kotori gave them to her. “You see…” She held the golden keys between her fingers. “There are twelve of them. They enable you to summon the Zodiac Spirits who are the strongest Celestial Spirits.” Returning the keys, Nozomi smiled again at Kotori. “Possessing two of them is really something to be proud of. Some people spent their lifetime to find one.”

“Interesting.” To say that she didn’t care about those details was an understatement, so Maki just selected the last person on her screen: Honoka. “And last but not least…”

Everyone turned around to look at their new leader. With every gaze upon her, Honoka bowed her head. Now that she knew about all those incredible magic the others possessed, she thought that her own wasn’t that great at all. Especially when she remembered what she could cause.

“Kousaka?” “Honoka-chan?” Voicing their concern or doubt all together didn’t change Honoka’s impression.

“Honoka-chan?” Hearing the voice of Mamoru, Honoka looked up to meet the old masters kind and encouraging gaze. He just nodded rather than saying anything.

Looking around, Maki was the last one Honoka watched. “Crash.”

All eyes widened and even Maki stopped typing. “What?”

“My magic. Crash.”

“This extremely powerful and extremely dangerous magic when it’s not controlled properly?” Nico answered and moved a few centimetres back. Honoka nodded. “Please tell me you can control it.” The raven haired mage almost pleaded.

Gulping, Honoka looked back at the floor. “Most of the time?”

“Most of… Most of?!” Nico shouted in surprise. “Great… Thanks for not telling us sooner!”

“Yazawa.” Despite everything, Umi remained calm as she glanced at the both of them. “Nothing happened so far. So it’s safe.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Eli interrupted and pointed at the floor. The cracks were still visible.

Tapping a small crack with her feet, Rin remembered what Eli was talking about. “The quake…”

“Yeah, that was me. Sorry… I-I probably should leave now before something happens.” Honoka was about to turn around when a wall of ice appeared before her and someone grabbed her wrist. It was obvious who had created the wall. But looking around Honoka saw Kotori.

“Dangerous or not, we will handle it.” Honoka didn’t know why, but the calm smile of Kotori made her relax.

With the wall disappearing, Eli walked further into the room. “She’s right. And since we just decided to make you the leader we will have to trust you. So don’t back down.”

Everyone nodded, agreeing to what Kotori and Eli had said. Tears started to gather in Honoka’s eyes as she smiled. “Thank you.”

“Now then… Let’s plan our assault.” Maki said and set her Archive into action.

* * *

 

Leaving the cave he had used as a hideout the past couple of weeks, Jurek sighed. Even though the girls were easy to deal with, summoning and controlling all five golems at the same time took its toll. He had wanted to leave the moment he had gotten back, but feeling as tired as he had, he decided to stay the night and leave in the early morning.

After all they wouldn’t dare to approach him again after the disaster in the town.

He smiled when the thought about the battle. He felt pity. They had been sent here to deal with him despite them never standing a chance in the first place. Whoever thought that they would have been able to beat him sure was an idiot.

Looking at the sky, Jurek sighed. “At least they’ve learned their lesson.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but we didn’t.”

Upon hearing the voice Jurek turned around. His eyes widened once he saw the same nine girls he had beaten before him. A dozen of thoughts raced through his mind, but one screamed the loudest. “How did you find me?”

His gaze scanned every girl until it lingered on that red haired mage who carried sort of a golden orb in her right hand. She smirked and he knew what was going on. “You… You marked me with your last attack.” He had thought it was just a lame excuse of an attack, but obviously he had been wrong.

“We won’t lose this time. Prepare yourself.” Umi extended her hand and everyone else tensed up visibly. They seemed more prepared than they had been the day before, Jurek had to admit.

Snipping his finger, Jurek clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt. No need to go easy on them, he thought. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves. You should have let me go. Now I won’t guarantee anything.” His five golems started to form until they stood in front of him like one massive wall.

“Now!” With that command shouted by Eli, Honoka, Hanayo and Maki retreated backwards while Kotori and Umi moved to the left and the right each. That left Eli, Nozomi, Nico and Rin in the front row.

Jurek knew in an instant that they were prepared and had a plan. So this could be more difficult than the day before. Not that he cared as he commanded the golems to charge forward.

“Kouzumi!” Maki was almost finished with setting up her Archive when she turned to Hanayo to indicate that the other girl could use her magic as well.

Using her healthy arm Hanayo stretched it with her palm upwards. “Just call me Hanayo, please?” She didn’t even watch the branch growing in her hand as she smiled at Maki. Once it reached a decent size Hanayo kneeled down and the tendril started to spread in every direction.

Maki watched with awe as a solid wall made out of roots started to surround them. When Hanayo added a roof, she and Maki were protected by an igloo-like construction with enough space between some branches to look at the battlefield. With the last gap closing behind them they looked at Honoka who remained outside and nodded.

Outside, Kotori shared a glance with Umi who nodded. She took out one of her golden keys, pointing it forward. “This is going to be a premiere for us, so please… Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!”

The gate opened with a magic circle and a black haired and tall man in a horse costume appeared. “Moshi moshi.”

Umi just stared blankly at the figure, gaping. “Minami-san? Are you… serious?”

Smiling innocently, Kotori answered. “Sagittarius might seem strange, but he’s actually pretty strong and an excellent archer.”

“Nice to meet you.” The celestial spirit greeted with a salute.

“Y-Yeah…” Still shocked, Umi concentrated back at the situation in front of her. She had a task she had to take care of. “Requip! Siren’s Bow!” The one thing she had learned from battling those golems the day before was that they had a fair share of problems with water. Knowledge she would use to her advantage. “Well then, Sagittarius. Shall we?”

The spirit and the mage both took aim, with Umi’s arrow being made out of pure water. A trait unique to the Siren’s Bow she used. All that was left was waiting for a command.

Meanwhile, the other four were face to face with five golems. If they wanted to manage what they had agreed to in the morning they had to trust the others almost blindly. A fact that Eli and Nico had their problems with. Especially the ice mage, despite what she had told Honoka when she was about to walk away, rather worked alone.

_“Can you hear me?”_

Startled, everyone outside took a glance at the side.

“I can’t believe this worked.” Nico deadpanned.

 _“If someone would have trusted me from the very beginning we wouldn’t have had to argue for a damn hour.”_ Maki shot back in everyone’s mind.

Turning around to the construction in the back, the raven haired mage glared back. “Sorry that being able to talk in someone’s mind is something I associate with Telepathy and not with Archive!”

An alarming sound in her head made Nico turn back just in time to see that the golems had started moving. She barely avoided a punch by jumping to her left.

_“Minami! Sonoda! Now!”_

Upon getting the command from Maki, Umi and Sagittarius, with the command from Umi, shot their arrows at the second and fourth golem. Despite the spirit’s arrow being a normal one, the strength behind the shoot left a lot of damage to the point where the impact on the right shoulder caused the arm to fall apart. Umi’s arrow of water left a huge hole in the other one’s chest.

_“Keep at it and deal as much damage as possible.”_

Generating another arrow, Umi bent the bow again and aimed, hoping to provide as much support as she could.

On the other side Jurek gritted his teeth. It was like a whole other group faced him. They weren’t the same and they actually worked together.

While the four who had remained in the front fought against five golems at once and were actually able to compete with his creations, the archers provided enough support to stop at least one golem every time. The whole situation was more even than he liked to admit. To make it even worse, the four girls fighting head on moved with such coordination that it was just not normal.

When Eli attacked one golem with a swarm of eagles made out of ice, Nico would have her back and fight of another foe with Water Magic. The same applied to the other two. They attacked but at the same time they defended each other as if they knew exactly where each and every one of them currently stood.

If he wanted to get out of here soon, Jurek would need to find a way to do so. Soon.

That was the moment his eyes lingered on the igloo like structure in the back. “Damn it…”

Meanwhile Eli, Nozomi, Nico and Rin managed to fight the golems successfully with the help of Kotori’s celestial spirit and Umi. Maki told them each other’s positions and those of the golems with her Archive at every given moment. Combined with commands and instructions she made an excellent supervisor.

The moment Eli and Nico turned around and faced the same golem they knew what they had to do without Maki telling them. And it seemed like Maki knew that, too.

_“Tojo! Hoshizora! Take care of the golems left from Yazawa! Sonoda and Minami, distract the other two!”_

While two arrows hit their target again, causing them to stumble backwards, Rin speed forward using her High Speed Magic to accelerate even further. She focused on the golem’s chest. “Falcon Heavenward!“ With a kick she send the golem literally flying.

Meanwhile Nozomi drew the Heaven and the Wind card from her deck and placed them upon each other. “Wind Edge!” A massive wave of wind hit the golem and forced it back by several meters.

With all the other golems distracted or unable to do anything, Eli and Nico could concentrate on the one right in front of them. Silently understanding each other, Eli moved forward and casted her magic. But rather than creating a specific shape, she just wanted it to be unable to move. So engulfing the golem’s legs with solid ice was enough.

“Yazawa! Now!” Eli shouted while she dodged to the side.

A smirk appeared on her face. “Water Cyclon!” Just like the first time the day before, but a lot stronger, a torrent of water emitted from Nico’s outstretched arms. The stream washed away the material the golem was made of, effectively destroying it.

Watching his golems being pushed back while one got destroyed, Jurek smiled. “Thanks for getting rid of one of them. Now I create another one…” His plan had been different, but this actually was in his favour. He didn’t waste a second to create another golem behind the fighting quartet. He had to use more of his magic power, but if the result was worth it nobody cared in the end.

 _“Uhm… guys?”_ Maki’s voice sounded slightly concerned. And when they all turned around they knew why.

Just in front of the shelter built out of Hanayo’s plants stood a new golem. Its fist raised, it slammed down on the construction. All they could hear were Maki’s gasps of shock.

“Sonoda-san, could you take care of this alone for a second?” Looking at Kotori, Umi saw the other girl being rather serious and nodded. And with the confirmation she needed, Kotori ran back towards Hanayo and Maki while closing the gate of her spirit and making Sagittarius disappear.

She stashed away the archer’s key just to take out the second golden key she possessed. “I won’t run away. I will try…” She whispered to herself. “Open! Gate of the Ram! Aries!”

A female spirit with pink hair and curled horns appeared in front of Kotori. “You… uhm… you summoned me?”

“Yeah. Aries, I need your help. Could you please protect my friends in this structure?” The mage pointed at the vines. “Please!”

Albeit reluctantly, Aries nodded. “I-I’ll do my best.” Running of, the Celestial Spirit made sure not to draw the golem’s attention before she got into action. “Wool Wall!” A thick cloud of pink wool separated the golem and the structure. And once the creature tried to punch again it got stuck.

Seeing this from the inside, Hanayo turned to Maki. “Do you trust me?” When Maki answered that she did, Hanayo dissolved parts of their shelter and stepped out, rounding the wool and heading for golem.

“Wait… Hanayo!” In shock, Maki could only watch when Hanayo let a small vine grew in her palm again. The girl ducked away under the golem and touched its leg with the vine in her hand.

In a matter of seconds branches started to grew all over the creature, some of them from the inside out, covering its entire body. When flowers started to bloom, Maki and Kotori were left in awe.

Right in front of them stood the golem, unable to move because Hanayo’s vines captured it perfectly, with flowers all over it. It looked beautiful.

Hanayo turned around and smiled at the still stunned Maki. Walking back she rebuilt their shelter.

“Hanayo?” Said girl hummed in response. “That was… actually… really good.” Maki said while turning back to her Archive. Hanayo’s attack actually was better than just good. From the data she had collected Maki figured that their enemy could control five golems at the same time. If he wanted to create one while five were already in battle he had to wait for one of them to get destroyed. But Hanayo hadn’t destroyed it, thus reducing the number of golems permanently.

Not that their plan included getting rid of them. They just had to wait for the perfect moment.

On the frontline however, Eli got impatient. She had noticed a change in Nico’s and Nozomi’s movements and had watched them ever since. And if her assumption was right they were slowly running out of time.

They were getting tired. Moving around constantly while attacking at the same time took its toll and Eli wasn’t sure if Rin and she would be able to fight against four golems while getting tired themselves.

So the only option they had was for Rin and Eri to make the difference.

When they stood back to back for a moment, Eri began to think of a plan that was hopefully good enough despite being developed in just thirty seconds. “Rin? Did you see Tojo and Yazawa?”

“They’re getting slower, aren’t they, nya?”

“We’ll never manage to offer her the opportunity she needs if they can’t fight any longer while we’re wearing ourselves out. We have to do something as long as we still can.”

Rin nodded. “You have a plan, nya?”

“If there’s a chance, can you slam one golem into another?”

“That should work. What about you, nya?”

“Leave it to me.” Eli allowed herself a little smile. “Just shout if there’s that chance.”

The both of them had to separate again when a fist slammed down just in front of them. Eli hoped that it wouldn’t take that long for such an opportunity to arrive. Until then they had to try to keep going while Umi and Sagittarius, who had been re-summoned by Kotori, kept supporting them.

Unfortunately they had underestimated how tired especially Nozomi really was. The girl struggled more and more and concentrated on defending rather than attacking. She started to lose the overview of what was happening, even with Maki trying to coordinate them.

And Jurek noticed that as well. “Now or never, ladies.” He advised two of his golems, the ones closest to their target, to concentrate on the purple haired mage. They managed to trap her, with one right in front of her and the second one right behind her.

_“Damn, Tojo!”_

Maki’s scream echoed through their heads and Eli glanced to where Nozomi should be. Her eyes widened for a second before she turned her head back to her enemy, trying to figure out a way to get out of this.

That was when she saw it.

Rin had managed to push her target just behind the golem attacking Eli. “Hoshizora!”

Just one look and Rin understood in an instant. While using her High Speed to replace Eli, the blonde turned to where Nozomi was still in trouble. She just needed two seconds to get there but obviously fate didn’t want to be that generous.

When the golem in Nozomi’s back raised his fist to attack, Eli casted her own spell. She pushed Nozomi away and replaced her just as the punch came down. “Ice Make – Hedgehog!” Barely in time, Eli’s back became covered in ice, with sharp spikes growing everywhere. The impact still caused her to tumble forward while Nozomi just watched in shock. The golem’s fist however crumbled into pieces while the creature itself fell backwards.

Gritting her teeth because of the pain the attack still had caused, Eli eyed the second golem in front of her. At the same time, Rin started her attack.

“Falcon Heavenward!”

“Ice Make – Snow Dragon!”

Just like before, Rin sent the golem she attacked flying backwards. But this time it hit the second one as well, caused both of them to fall to the ground.

Eli on the other hand created a dragon shaped sculpture, rushing to her target and wrapping itself around it, restraining it completely.

Now, with all five golems unable to move, they could finally call for their plan’s last step.

“Kousaka!” “Honoka-chan!”

When Honoka appeared from behind Maki’s and Hanayo’s shelter, she thought back on the meeting last night. The plan as Maki had laid it down replayed itself in her head as she rushed forward, taking the path towards Jurek that had been opened by Rin and Eli with their last attacks.

> _“During your fight with him I’ve noticed several things.” Maki had started. “First: He can control five golems, not just three. Second: For a golem to be recreated it has to be destroyed first. Third: He apparently can’t destroy them himself. Fourth: As long as his golems are near him we won’t get a chance to reach him. He will just advise one of his monsters to defend him.”_
> 
> _Everyone had been deep in thought. They had had to find a way to beat him with the nine of them and they had had to figure out something as soon as possible._
> 
> _“And what if we restrain them?” Nozomi had opted along the way._
> 
> _Umi had grown curious by that suggestion. “What exactly do you mean by that?”_
> 
> _“Well,” the purple haired mage had started. “He can’t destroy them and if we do, he will create a new one. But what if we don’t destroy them? What if we just prevent them from moving?”_
> 
> _They all had looked at her with wide eyes. Nozomi had backed down a little bit, not accustomed by all these intense stares. Until Nico had spoken up. “I hate to admit that… but that’s brilliant.”_
> 
> _“But that creates a new problem.” Eli had chimed in. “We would have to defeat him with one attack.”_
> 
> _As if on cue everyone’s eyes had darted down to the still broken floor, except Honoka’s. Said girl had noticed the others' behaviour when everyone had turned towards her. “What?”_
> 
> _“Crash Magic.” Had been Umi’s simple answer. “A hit charged with your magic should be strong enough to take this guy out.”_
> 
> _She had started to panic. “You can’t be serious!”_
> 
> _“We are, Kousaka.” Maki had said while she had entered all new information into her system._
> 
> _Before Honoka could have said anything else, Mamoru had interrupted. “You can do it, Honoka-chan. Just trust yourself as much as they trust you.”_

And now, Honoka was actually charging towards her target.

She had felt the power of her magic cursing through her before. Most of the times it had been accidentally. Sometimes intentionally, for example when she had trained together with Mamoru-san a couple of times. But never had she been this nervous before. Never had someone actually relied on her magic.

And if she was honest with herself, this trust gave her enough courage to actually try.

With willpower she didn’t know she possessed, Honoka felt her magic gathering in her right fist. A white light, similar to thunder, gathered around her hand like an orb. She passed Eli and Rin, barely registering them. And when she finally arrived, a meter between her and Jurek, her fist came down and hit the ground, followed by her voice. “Crashing: Herculean Fist!”

The last thing she registered was the ground beneath her splitting open and the shocked face of her enemy before her.

* * *

 

**Arc 1 - The Union - Finished**


	4. Lost in the Aftermath

“Your mages are certainly something.” Sasahara said, arms crossed over her chest.

In front of her was a crater, several meters in diameter and approximately 5 meters deep. All in all not to big but certainly big enough to cause a loud explosion. That was what had driven the citizens out of their homes to take a look to begin with.

Everyone had feared for the worst after the mages had lost their previous battle. So when they arrived at the scene neither of them had expected to see the nine young mages victorious. But there they were, eight of them at the edge of the crater, looking just as stunned as the townspeople. In the middle laid the last one, the orange haired girl, alongside the dark mage.

Now, after they had brought the girls back to tavern to allow them to rest, Sasahara stood alongside Mamoru, overlooking the scene. The others checked the scene, the most amazing thing being a golem covered in flowers, and trying to think of a way to use this mess.

“Yeah, they worked well together.” Mamoru answered, his brows furrowed as he looked at the crater.

“I’ve known you long enough to know when there is something troubling you, Mamoru.”

“It’s her magic. Honoka’s magic.”

Sasahara sighed, knowing what her old master was referring to. “Crash magic.”

Mamoru nodded. “Magic in general is pretty dangerous if not controlled properly. Crash magic and its destructive power even more so. But she just can’t control it, she’s afraid.”

“She needs to overcome this fear. Otherwise she’ll never improve.” Sasahara said, looking down at the other mage. “Do you have an idea how to help her?”

“I might have.” He answered. “When she joined Sakura Heaven, Hana asked me why her father dumped her at our guild, requesting that we teach her magic. Apparently she lost control over magic power and destroyed her family’s home.”

Neither of them said anything for a minute, both deep in their own thoughts.

“If that’s true it explains a lot.” The tavern keeper finally said, her eyes downcast while watching the other townspeople.

“It does. And I want her to forgive herself.” Mamoru turned around, intending to go back to the tavern where his mages rested. “By the way. Thanks for letting them stay there, I’ll make that we leave as soon as possible.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Sasahara smiled, watching the former master of her former guild going back. “I’m sure you’ll help them.”

* * *

Once the explosion had been over, everyone of them had held their breath, hoping that their plan had worked. The moment they had spotted Jurek on the ground had been such a relief that some of them had dropped down onto their knees. They had been glad.

But the moment Rin had spotted Honoka laying there as well had been the complete opposite. Those who had still been able to had rushed to her side to help her up and those who could barely stand did just that.

On their way back they had encountered the townspeople, alarmed by the explosion. Among them had been Sasahara who had advised them to go back to the tavern.

Now, here they were. After dealing with their injuries everyone had been on the verge of falling asleep while standing. Honoka, with bandaids on her cheeks and bandages on her right arm, leaned against Kotori, sleeping soundly. Kotori’ head rested atop Honoka’s. She had fallen asleep the moment she had been sure Honoka was fine.

Hanayo had treated Rin’s wounds, the both of them quietly talking to each other. Rin had apologized for her behaviour again. Now the two of them slept peacefully while leaning against each other.

Maki, who had been treating Honoka, Eli and Umi, had fallen asleep the moment she had sat down on a chair. She now leaned on her arms, resting on a table.

Nico had refused any help. After she had put some band aids on some cuts and bruises she had taken a spare blanket to wrap around herself and was now leaning against a well, sometimes mumbling in her sleep.

Umi and Eli laid on the floor, the latter on her stomach. The blonde mage had refused help as well first, but after she had winced in pain and almost falling down Maki had forced her to let her help Eli.

On the other hand Nozomi was still wide awake, with a blanket around her to keep her warm. Although she was tired all she could think of was the moment when Eli had pushed aside to take the hit for her. The fact that the ice mage was barely able to move was her fault, Nozomi thought.

At the same time she wondered why Eli had helped her in the first place. She didn’t seem like someone who cared about others.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

A voice pulled Nozomi out of her thoughts. Raising her head she saw Mamoru entering the tavern, a small smile on his face.

“I am not that tired.” Nozomi tried to convince him, but apparently it didn’t work.

The old man walked over to her, readjusting the blanket around her shoulders and tugging her in a little more.

“How long have we known each other now, Nozomi-chan?”

“A couple of years I guess?” She smiled a little sheepishly.

Mamoru giggled, careful not to wake the others. “A couple of years, indeed. I’ve seen you growing up in the guild and believe me when I tell you that I can see when something is troubling you.”

“Am I that transparent?” Looking down Nozomi sighed. “It’s just that… I don’t know.” She had never been someone to openly express how she felt or what she was thinking. But Mamoru always seemed to know when something was bothering her. So Nozomi decided to open up to him. “When we were fighting I was about to get hit by one of these golem. But Eli pushed me away, taking the hit instead of me. And you know how I’ve been trying to…”

“Yeah, I do.” Mamoru interrupted her, knowing that the girl rather liked to bottle up her feelings with all her might. He didn’t want to push her. “And know you don’t know why, am I right?”

Nozomi nodded weakly. “Did she protect me just because she figured it might help her get an opening to attack like it did? Or did he protect me because… well… because she just wanted to do that. Protecting.”

It was silent for a moment, both of them lost in their own thoughts as they looked over the other eight girls.

“That girl is hard to read and even harder to understand.” Mamoru finally said, his gaze lingering on Eli. “She won’t open up to anyone, opting to keep the walls she built up around herself instead while pursuing a goal only she knows of.”

Nozomi sighed. “Yeah, she doesn’t want anyone to be close to her. So she might just wanted to end the fight.”

“Not necessarily.” The old master added quickly. “She might act like this but there has to be something that still drives her forward and that made her like this.”

“So you think she might have just wanted to protect me?”

Mamoru didn’t miss the hope lingering beneath Nozomi’s words. He smiled. “I don’t know, but want to hear what I’d do?”

Nozomi nodded eagerly this time, looking at the old master as he got ready for bed himself.

“I’d just ask her.”

Nozomi sighed, having expected something different. “She wouldn’t answer.”

“Maybe not now, but maybe someday. All that I know is that you won’t know the answers to your questions if you don’t ask. You, of all people should know that.”

Feeling slightly offended Nozomi stuck out her tongue mockingly. But deep down she knew that he was right. She just wasn’t ready to make this step yet.

“Now…”

Nozomi heard the amusement in Mamoru’s voice but before she could react a pillow hit her straight in the face.

“Go to bed. We’ll be travelling back to Otonokizaka tomorrow.” He smiled at her, threatening to throw another pillow.

“Okay. And Mamoru-san? Thank you.” Nozomi got up from the chair she was sitting on to find a comfortable place to lay down. She fell asleep immediately, the fatigue finally catching up on her.

Mamoru looked at her, a fond smile on his face as he remembered the day he was introduced to Nozomi and the nickname she would refuse to listen to soon after. “You’re welcome, Non-chan.”

* * *

When Minami had decided to send Kotori out as well she had thought that she would be able to handle the fact that she had put her own daughter in danger.

Now, four days after seeing them off she felt more nervous than ever. She hadn’t been updated by Mamoru and neither did she hear anything of Sasahara who she knew Mamoru wanted to stay with for the time being.

The rest of the guild had already noticed that something was wrong with their master and tried to help as best as they could, be it with her favourite brand of tea or keeping any visitors out for now.

As of now that didn’t seem to work because she could hear people arguing in front of the door to her office before someone knocked.

“Come in.” She leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath. Minami really wasn’t in the mood right now but when did that stop anyone from demanding something.

“Master Minami?” Midou Yuuri, a young mage of the guild, entered by sticking her head through the barely opened door. “We have a guest but I told him that you were busy.”

“You’re guild master would do well not to refuse the head of one of the ten families.” A male voice sounded from across the door and made Yuuri flinch.

“Let him in.” Minami announced, preparing herself for the worst. Having to deal with the ten families never was an easy task, especially if the head of one decided to visit personally.

Yuuri opened the door and stepped aside to create as much space as possible. The young girl looked over to Minami, unsure of what to do. But judging by the way she clenched her fists together Minami could tell that she was nervous so she dismissed her with a nod of her head and a mouthed thank you.

The moment Yuuri was out of the room Minami stood up and walked over to the entrance, closing the door tightly. As she turned around a tall man in his forties with reddish hair and beard and purple eyes stared down at her. She knew in an instant who she had to deal with and it send a shiver down her spine.

“Nishikino-san.” She outstretched her hand to greet him. He reluctantly took her hand and let go after a second, obviously more interested in scanning her office than the person in front of him. “I am pleasantly surprised to have a visitor like you, seeing that the Magic Council is about to gather in the next couple of days.”

Dealing with the ten families taught her one thing: A conversation with them was like walking over a field with hundreds of hidden explosives.

“Ohara-san is going to take my place.” He replied, not interested in a longer conversation, that much Minami could tell.

Instead she opted to get straight to the point. “In that case, what can I help you with?”

“I am sure you know that my daughter went missing over a year ago. We haven’t found her so we think she might be hiding somewhere.” Nishikino said, finally looking at Minami to scan her face for any hint that she might be hiding something.

“And you thought that she might be hiding by joining a guild?” She crossed her arms over her chest. For years she had wondered why Mamoru tortured her with playing poker all the time.

By now she knew why.

“It’s a reasonable idea, don’t you think?” He countered, the both of them now standing eye to eye.

“I doubt that any guild would risk the wrath of any of the ten families. So sadly I have to tell you that your daughter isn’t here. But rest assured that I’ll call you the moment I see her. I even have her wanted poster on my desk.” Gesturing towards the picture she kept eye contact.

With a last judging glance Nishikino looked down at her, trying to use his height advantage to intimidate her. Not that it would work.

“I hope you’re telling the truth. If not… your guild will feel what you called our wrath.”

With that he stormed out, leaving Minami alone in her office.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax her tense body after this conversation. If one may call it that. She looked at her desk and onto the wanted poster that said “Maki Nishikino”.

“Guess I finally have to talk to her.”

* * *

“I can’t believe they beat me!” Jurek shouted in the small dark cell he currently was in, his hands bound together with cuffs to suppress his magic. “I got careless and didn’t realize one was missing.”

“That happens when someone thinks he’s superior.”

A female voice echoed through the dark room before a familiar blonde mage stepped out of the shadows, limping a little bit.

Jurek smirked. “Uh, did my golem hit you a little hard when you were trying to protect your friend?”

“Friend?” Eli raised an eyebrow before she realized what he was hinting at. “Oh, you mean Tojo?” She walked closer to his cell before crouching down right in front of the iron bars. “And stop smirking. After all that small hit didn’t stop me from destroy two of your precious golems, did it?”

“What do you want?” His voice became darker as he looked straight at Eli, dropping the playful act.

“I need some advice.”

Jurek started laughing. “What can I possibly help you with?”

“Have you been working with some dark guilds?”

Now Jurek got suspicious. “Why would you wanna know that?” He raised an eyebrow,

Eli just shrugged. “I have my reasons. Now, have you?”

“No.” Even if he had he would never tell that girl.

“Figured as much.” Eli sighed, scratching the back of her neck. “Well, do you know some people who could help me out with some information?”

Shaking his head Jurek chuckled. “I do, but I won’t tell you.”

Eli got as close as the cell allowed her to. “I think you don’t realize in what position you’re in.”

Her voice became deeper and Jurek could feel the chill the ice mage was sending out. When he looked at the floor he saw how a thin layer of ice creeping up on him.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” Eli smirked.

The ice reached his food and started crawling up his leg, causing him to flinch back when the cold started to set in. Jurek looked at Eli who just smirked, having no intention to stop the ice.

When it reached his knees and a second layer started to coat the first he started to panik.

“Ok, ok, I’ll tell you!”

The ice retreated back and Eli smiled. “Thank you.”

* * *

“Rin-chan, wake up.”

“Just a little while longer.” Rin moaned, trying to get back to sleep and ignoring that someone shook her shoulders.

“Get up Hoshizora. Because of you we all have to wait.”

She heard another person and felt someone lightly kicking her feet to rouse her. She pulled her blanket over her head.

“Ma- Ichinose-san, stop it.” The first person whispered shyly.

“What? I am just telling the truth.”

The voices got louder and Rin frowned. There was no way she could fall back asleep. “I get it, I get up!” She pulled her blanket off of her and sat up, startling both Hanayo and Maki who were standing right beside her. When she looked around she noticed that the others had already finished cleaning up and had their bags ready. Honoka was the only exception because of her injuries but Kotori helped her.

“Hurry up already.” Maki said while walking away.

Turning to Hanayo the other girl smiled slightly at Rin before standing up as well to get back to her own belongings.

Rin sighed, starting to fold her blanket until someone tapped her shoulder from behind. Turning around she saw Nozomi smiling and holding up her already packed bag

“Here you go, Rin-chan.”

“Thank you, Tojo-san!” Rin jumped up, grabbing the bag and stuffed her blanket in.

“Nozomi is fine.” Nozomi said, her arms behind her back.

“Eh? Where is Ayase-san?” Kotori asked once she finished helping Honoka. She looked around the room but couldn’t find the blonde mage.

“She got up early in the morning, took her stuff and left” Nico chimed in while sitting at a table, her arms crossed over her chest. Her leg rocked nervously up and down.

“What?” When Honoka tried to stand up her face contorted in pain. The impact of her own magic had hit her as well. Though she was lucky that didn’t suffer some broken bones she still had bruises and sore muscles all over her body. “She can’t just leave.”

“Technically… I can.” Walking through the door was Eli. “I don’t need to travel back with the rest of you.”

Honoka smiled, despite the pain. “But you came back because we are a team.”

Nico snorted before bursting out in laughter. “No, no, no, no. That was a once in a lifetime thing because we had no choice. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I agree with Yazawa.” Umi said, standing in a corner. “Besides, we were all assigned to this mission by master Minami, otherwise I’d never have worked together in the first place. I guess Ayase agrees as well.”

Eli just nodded, ignoring the glances by Honoka and the others.

“You’re kidding, are you? Are we back to all this arguing and fighting?” Honoka asked, but before anyone could answer Sasahara walked through the door.

“Good morning, everyone! Are you rea- Did I interrupt something?” She immediately caught up on the bad mood in the room and looked around but neither of the girls looked at her.

The silence was a little awkward, even for Sasahara. She didn’t know what to say, doubting that this was the outcome Minami and Mamoru wished for. Everything seemed back to how it was before they lost their first battle.

“So… the townspeople prepared a carriage for you because some of you had troubles walking. It’s a thank you for helping us out.” She finally said.

Honoka looked up, a forced smile on her face that made Sasahara frown. “Thank you.”

“Girls, get ready! We are departing. We’ve stayed here long enough, Sasahara needs to get the her business going again!” Mamoru announced as he walked back in, standing beside Sasahara.

While the nine young mages all made their way out, Sasahara nudges her old master. “They are back to square one.” She said sadly.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. I feared that may happen.” He whispered. “But some of them actually opened up to others.”

He looked at Rin and smiled. The girl had always been a gentle soul and seeing her apologizing to Hanayo despite the fact that her injury wasn’t even Rin’s fault made him proud. Now she helped the others, especially Hanayo since she still felt guilty, however she possibly could.

“Especially Sonoda, Yazawa, Ichinose and Ayase won’t open up that easy. I think Hana underestimated that quite a lot.”

“I bet she’ll just be happy that Kotori is fine.”

Mamoru just nodded.

* * *

They travelled back in silence, neither of them uttering a word.

Honoka and Hanayo sat in the carriage together with Kotori and Nozomi. Despite trying to convince Eli to do the same the blonde had refused and was now walking beside the carriage, still limping a little. Rin was together with Mamoru handled the horses while Umi, Maki and Nico walked ahead, a visible gap between them.

While he was happy that they were all somewhat fine, especially Kotori since he didn’t want to know what Hana would have done with him if her daughter would have been seriously injured, he still worried for what would happen in the guild.

He knew Hana ever since she was little. She never did something without a goal in mind and if she really wanted these girls to become friends her plan had failed miserably. At least this time.

For now he was glad that he didn’t need to threaten any of them again.

With his mind wandering he didn’t realize that they were approaching Otonokizaka. Only when Umi called back that she could see the town he was pulled out of his thoughts.

They sped up a little to make it back before dawn and sure enough they soon were walking through the streets. He was greeted every now and then but Mamoru really didn’t feel like cheering.

When they came to a stop in front of the guild he and Rin helped their passengers to get down while Eli announced she would go straight to the library and no one should disturb her. Umi, Maki and Nico followed suit and Mamoru guessed they’d just check on the newest requests or retreat to be alone as well.

What he didn’t expect was to see Minami at the guild’s counter stopping them, though.

“Mama!” Kotori ran passed him, dropping her bag on the floor.

Upon being called Minami turned around, a relieved smile on her face as she caught her daughter in her arms, hugging her tight. “So I guess everything went well?” When Kotori just nodded, Minami loosened her hold to look at her daughter. “Great. I am proud of you.”

“Did you stop us just so we see the family reunion?” Nico asked, obviously annoyed. Behind her where Umi, Maki and Eli, the latter two looking away.

“No, I didn’t. But first….” Minami turned to Mamoru, finally seeing Hanayo’s broken arm and the patched up Honoka. “What happened?”

Mamoru sighed. “Long story short: the hotheads there rushed ahead.” He gestured at Umi, Nico, Eli and Rin. “In the process Hanayo got injured and they lost the battle. Afterwards they agreed to team up, with Honoka-chan here being the leader, and, with a well thought out plan, managed to successfully end the mission you assigned to them.”

“That is great news.”

“Yeah, whatever. It’s not like we’ll work together again.”

“You’re wrong if you think that, Yazawa-san.” Minami said with a smirk that Mamoru really didn’t like. Nico was staring at here with raised eyebrows and so did everyone else.

“Because as of now the nine of you will be an official team of this guild.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not dead and neither is this fic, I promise. I am just a very very stressed university student who tries to write fanfiction. Please bear with me. xD

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my next project and the first really really big one. As you can see, the LL-girls live in a world similar to the world of Fairy Tail. While the base concepts such as mages, guilds and a magic council will be the same as you may know it, the world itself is unique, as well as its problems.
> 
> I don't know how many chapters this'll have. But bear with me. :)
> 
> Also, thank you megapixelpichu for being my beta reader. I know I've already said it a dozens of times, but you deserve it.
> 
> If you're interested in progress-updates or maybe some headcanons, or you have questions: visit me on sunokasai.tumblr.com
> 
> Until next time. :)


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